36C-10 |
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D. A. DOOLEY, A. Leong, and M. Holley. Dept. of Human Nutrition, Food & Animal Sciences (HNFAS), Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa, 1995 East-West Rd., 314-H AgSci Bldg., Honolulu, HI 96822 Gender and ethnicity can affect ethical decision-making. Food/nutrition educators now recognize that ethical issues may influence an individual's nutrition and food choices. Our main objective was to determine if gender or subject-reported ethnicity influenced responses to food-related ethical dilemmas for introductory food/nutrition students. After obtaining Human Studies approval, we collected demographic data from most students in four sections of “The Science of Human Nutrition,” Fall 2003. Subsequently, 128 students volunteered for the ethics research; valid data were available for either 88 (ethnicity) or 98 (gender) subjects. On each of three exam days, students read a miniscenario and responded to questions about it. The first scenario (friend on low-carbohydrate diet) dealt with perceptions about rights and responsibilities; while the second (working at a food bank) and third (child playing with vitamin/mineral supplement) dealt with applying ethical principles. After the final exam, students selected which scenario was most challenging, easiest, most fun, and most troubling. All instruments had been pilot-tested. Data were analyzed by Chi-square; P=0.05. There were no significant differences between males' and females' responses to scenarios based on ethical principles (beneficence, autonomy, nonmaleficence, justice). There were no significant differences in responses between two ethnic categories: (1) Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Japanese, or Other Oriental; (2) Caucasian or Other). Half of the subjects picked correct definitions for "right" and "responsibility." Most subjects indicated they would help the hungry (beneficence or autonomy). Almost all subjects indicated they would act to protect a child from poisoning by vitamin-mineral supplements (beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice). Student evaluations showed that the most challenging scenario was also rated most troubling and the easiest was rated most fun. Limitations of this research include attrition of subjects (30 to 40 incomplete sets of data), nonrandom self-selection, and more females than males. Further research is needed to determine whether gender and ethnicity play roles in food/nutrition decision-making of nutrition students.
Session 36C, Education: General
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |