Career promotional activities of Iowa dental hygienists

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between Iowa dental hygienists' career promotional behaviors and (1) attitudes about career satisfaction, (2) beliefs about the job market, (3) membership in the American Dental Hygienists' Association, (4) demographics, and (5) employment characteristics.

In February 1993, questionnaires were mailed to a stratified random sample of 467 Iowa dental hygienists licensed and residing in the state of Iowa. Participation in four career promotional behaviors was ascertained as well as several independent variables. The data were analyzed with frequency distributions, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and chi-square statistics.

An adjusted response rate of 92.3% was achieved (N=423 respondents). The majority of respondents (79.1%) recommended a career in dental hygiene, but fewer than 20% participated in a dental hygiene career day, gave an undesignated monetary gift to a dental hygiene education program, or donated to a dental hygiene scholarship fund. The independent variables were not related consistently to each of the career promotional activities.

It appears that career promotional behaviors are multifaceted and require additional research to elucidate the interrelationships and enhance coordinated approaches to dental hygiene career recruitment.