The Nature of Competition in Dietetics Education: A Narrative Review

Abstract

The impact on student development associated with being part of a competitive program is an emerging finding in dietetics research. As such, a narrative review of relevant literature was conducted pertaining to competition in post-secondary programs and the educational experience of students with respect to developing a career in dietetics. The review was guided by 2 questions: How is competition experienced by students? What strategies can reduce competition among dietetics students within the educational experience? A refined literature screening process justified including 32 articles in the review. The overall review findings suggested that, across dietetics programs, the outcomes of competition negatively impacted students' personal identity, motivation in the learning process, and involvement behaviours, including collaboration among students, participation in academic opportunities, and student relationships with faculty. The implementation of strategies conducive to addressing the effects of excessive competition and building a supportive academic environment, for example increasing collegiality and engaging students in intrinsic learning, are important for continued growth of the dietetics profession. Educators can reflect on the complex nature of competition and how the effects of excessive competition may be in opposition with the competencies that students are expected to develop as professionals.

Preparedness for advancing future health: a national qualitative exploration of dietetics graduates’ experiences

“…While data on dietetics graduate outcomes in Australia is lacking (Morgan et al 2019c), this strong competition for obvious job opportunities as a result of a perceived graduate oversupply has been confirmed by dietetics educators in both academic and practice settings (Morgan et al 2018(Morgan et al , 2019b. These findings support the need to address the competitive landscape resulting from supply/demand mismatches that exist within dietetics internationally (Nyland and Lafferty 2012;Ruhl and Lordly 2017;Morgan et al 2019a). Providing students with experiences across diverse practice contexts to illustrate the breadth of possible careers is one potential strategy.…”

Dietetics students’ experiences of dietetics workforce preparation and preparedness: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis

“…In addition, a perceived oversupply of dietetics graduates, along with limited graduate employment prospects, as described in some countries (8,17) , may further exacerbate the sense of competition between students. Although challenging experiences can positively aid the development of student resilience (85) , competition among dietetics students can also result in reduced participation and collaboration during their education (86) . It is unclear whether this manifests into longer-term traits that impact future dietitians.…”

The impact of applying challenge-based gamification program on students’ learning outcomes: Academic achievement, motivation and flow

“…Gamification not only makes the teaching process fun and increases motivation, but also creates a competitive environment.Challenge-based gamification is one of the most common mechanisms of gamification in which competition plays the key role; components of challenge-based gamification include points, achievements, levels, badges, user images known as avatars, collections, avatars that appear at the end of the game, competition, gift giving/sharing, tasks, virtual items such as virtual money, social graphics and scores(Koivisto & Hamari, 2019 ; Majuri et al, 2018 ; Pedreira et al, 2015 ). Competition is the desire to surpass others in pursuit of resources and rewards by comparing one's potential and achievements with others (Ruhl & Lordly, 2017 ; Sailer & Homner, 2020 ).Of course, certain conditions must be met in order to turn this competitive environment into a positive effect. For example, the success of competition as a motivational tool depends on whether the reward system is perceived as credible, transparent, compelling and fair (Buckley et al, 2017 ).…”