Table 1.

Perceived obstacles to choosing health careers

Students	Parents	Educators
Negative image of science and math, too difficult, boring, too much work	Not knowledgeable about career options	Schools do not have resources to know of events, opportunities for students
Lack of self-confidence to do well academically	Limited resources and time to provide experiences for students or to push for more opportunities through schools, churches, community centers	No central location to find information about health careers or career options and teaching materials
Lack of adequate preparation for college programs because career decisions are made too late	Lack of information about possible scholarship information to assist with studies	Lack of role models that look like students to tap as mentors or speakers to motivate students
Lack of knowledge about financial aid	Unable to pay fees for programs and internships	Lack of resources to take trips, organize internships or other programs
Not enough role models that look like them	Difficult with paperwork to apply for programs and financial aid	Lack of local resources to organize internships and other activities
Limited positive views of health care professionals		Teachers often receive little or no incentive to develop or lead programs
Extra programs conflict with need to work after school work schedules		Lack of skilled and motivated science teachers to engage students
Stigma about some professions for males, such as nursing		Inability to adequately prepare students to succeed in science and math courses in college
Stigma for girls about becoming too smart and what happens, “when you are smarter than the boys?”		Schools focus on the current life of the student and not their future life/career
Health care careers not seen as “cool”
Lack peer support to pursue health care careers
Going against the norm by being the first to go into a healthcare field or to college