Maya Vime-Olive
Research Mentor: Jennifer Randall
Mentor Department: Educational Studies, Education
Author(s): Maya Vime-Olive, Jennifer Randall
Session: Session 6 (3:00 PM – 3:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 101
Abstract
As antiracist health education expands, evaluation practices often lag behind the field’s justice-oriented aims. In this presentation, we connect two projects that interrogate what counts as evidence of antiracist learning and action across the educational pipeline—from physician training to youth civic engagement. Together, these studies examine how assessment can either reinforce dominant power dynamics (by privileging easily measurable, individual-level attitudes) or support transformative goals (by centering affected communities and documenting real-world impact). First, we conducted a systematic literature review of empirical studies evaluating antiracist patient-care curricula in medical education (n = 59). We analyzed research designs, outcome measures, and theoretical frameworks to understand how “success†is currently measured. Across studies, measurement relied heavily on self-reported confidence, satisfaction, or attitudes, with limited psychometric rigor and limited engagement with critical theory. Patient perspectives were rarely included, and behavior change was infrequently assessed; only a small subset of studies measured behavioral outcomes, and just two incorporated patient feedback Second, we evaluated an antiracist summer institute in which high school students investigated a sociopolitical health-related injustice and created an instructional website with embedded assessment intended to increase critical consciousness. Fourteen students completed more than 45 structured reflections and participated in interviews. Using a critical consciousness framework, we coded evidence of reflection (developing analytic awareness of injustice and its structural roots), motivation (commitment and sense of efficacy to address inequity), and action (steps taken to intervene, educate, or advocate). Students demonstrated increased awareness of healthcare inequities and greater motivation to address them. Taken together, these projects highlight the need to re-envision evaluation of antiracist health education beyond short-term self-report metrics. We propose justice-oriented measurement approaches that (1) prioritize behavioral and systems-level outcomes, (2) incorporate perspectives of those most impacted by inequity (including patients and communities), and (3) assess critical consciousness development and action across learner populations
