A Wider Net

The American Physical Therapy Association does a lot of work around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to expand the field’s workforce. It supports scholarships for people entering the profession from diverse backgrounds and works with its regional chapters to build awareness of physical therapy careers. But, says APTA VP of DEI Carmen Elliott, CAE, successful DEI work means recognizing how the concept of diversity looks different depending on where you go.

“What recruitment may look like in New York may look totally different in West Virginia, and we recognize that,” she says. “Our chapters will customize some of the materials to better fit the students that they’re recruiting — we just attempt to make it easy for them by providing slide decks, presentations, talking points, and one-pagers.”

That outreach program, called PT Moves Me, is designed to be effective with limited resources — much of the work is done via volunteer “ambassadors” from APTA chapters. And it’s been effective — Elliott says that since 2021 APTA has trained 650 ambassadors across all 50 states, prompting a 3.5 percent increase in applicants to DPT programs, reversing a downward trend. That definition of diversity includes traditional figures such as race and gender, but for a field looking to attract workers in regions where there are shortages, also includes socioeconomic status and whether people come from rural areas.

DEI programs are most successful when they develop metrics that are most relevant to the communities they serve, says Arquella Hargrove, chief culture officer at Alchemy Consulting Group, which works on DEI initiatives. “That can be promotion rates across employee groups, participation rates in a leadership development program, success rates within a mentorship program,” she says. “It could also be the number of internal promotions versus external hires for those leadership roles.”

DEI in Challenging Times

Of course, DEI, as a term, has been the target of criticism, most prominently by the Trump Administration, which has delivered executive orders and supported initiatives dismantling programs agency leaders deem “DEI.” That’s affected APTA, where state-level proscriptions on DEI language means certain chapter members can’t access the association’s materials, Elliott says. The association is working with its board, DEI committee, and legal counsel to determine next steps to continue an effective program.

“We are assessing and reevaluating how we want to better leverage our materials so our members can continue to access our resources,” she says. “We also have a race-based grant program for scholarships, and we have to assess that as well. One thing we do not want to do is just erase everything, take everything off our website, and not have a strategy in place.”

Eduardo Arabu, CEO of the National Hispanic Corporate Council, an association of DEI executives and Fortune 1000 companies supporting DEI programs, says stating the clear workforce benefits of DEI initiatives can help blunt some of that legislation’s impact.

Elliott concurs about the breadth of ways DEI programs assist their workforces and encourages associations to stay the course. “While this may feel like disruptive times, association executives have always thrived during disruption,” she says. “We are problem solvers, strategic thinkers, and community builders. Let’s seek opportunities versus focusing on the challenges.”