The decline in graduating student pharmacist positivity for the profession of pharmacy

The pharmacy marketplace has shifted considerably in recent years. The decline in job openings and stagnant growth in wages, along with public reports about adverse working conditions for some pharmacists, may have tarnished the optimism of young pharmacists toward the profession of pharmacy.

The objective of this study was to analyze the trend among graduating student pharmacists regarding their positivity toward a career in pharmacy.

Data for this study were extracted from the Graduating Student Survey that is maintained by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. This set of analyses focused on respondents' agreement with the statement "If I was starting my college career over again, I would choose to study pharmacy." Descriptive statistics are reported for this item across 2014 to 2021, and chi-square analyses were used to compare the trend in agreement rates across years and to compare responses between public and private colleges of pharmacy.

Survey response rates ranged from 71.1%-80.2% across years and categories (public vs. private). Across 2014-2021, there was an overall decline in the percentage of graduating student pharmacists who indicated that they would choose pharmacy again if they were starting over in college with the greatest decline occurring after 2016. Across all colleges, agreement declined from 81.8% (2014) to 72.2% (2021) (χ² = 398.2; P < 0.001). The percentage of agreement responses for private college graduates declined from 80.7% (2014) to 74.8% (2021) whereas the percentage of agreement responses for public college graduates declined from 83.0% (2014) to 69.8% (2020). In 2021, public college graduates had lower agreement than private college graduates (χ² = 33.8; P < 0.001).

The positivity of graduating student pharmacists toward a career in pharmacy has deteriorated since 2014. Further investigation of this phenomenon is warranted.