White dominance in nursing education: A target for anti-racist efforts

Literature on racism, anti-racism, whiteness, nursing education and nurse educators was reviewed and analysed for the development of race consciousness and application of anti-racist pedagogy. The literature describes an oppressive educational climate for non-white identifying people, a curriculum that does not attend to the social construction of difference, and a nursing culture that is not consciously situated in a broader sociopolitical context. A particular focus on studies of nurse educators demonstrates a stark need for personal and professional development towards effectively delivering anti-racist pedagogy and a deconstruction of white normativity and dominance amongst white faculty. The protection and reproduction of white privilege is identified through the scholarship itself through a lack of racial analysis, an externalization of the root of oppression and non-specific study measures and outcomes. The persistence and pervasiveness of white dominance in nursing and the lack of anti-racist competence in white educators, particularly, merits a shift in anti-racist efforts away from short-term skill acquisition initiatives towards the deconstruction of socialized white supremacy and enactments of white privilege in nurse educators themselves.

Automated summary

The literature reveals the oppressive educational environment in nursing, the neglect of social construction of difference in the curriculum, and the urgent need for personal and professional development among white nurse educators in order to effectively deliver anti-racist pedagogy.