From Bias to Belonging: Building a More Inclusive Health and Fitness Workforce Through EDI Training

Health and fitness professionals play a vital role in supporting the well‑being of diverse communities, yet few receive training in cultural safety, inclusivity or recognizing systemic power imbalances. Dr. Mary Jung’s research addresses this gap by developing and evaluating online EDI learning platforms designed for both current practitioners and future healthcare providers. By targeting stereotypes and biases related to weight, ethnicity, and gender early in academic and professional pathways, this work aims to create more inclusive health programming and reduce longstanding inequities in access and care.

In this talk, Dr. Mary Jung will share insights from the development and evaluation of an online equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) learning platform tailored for students as well as health and fitness professionals in health‑related disciplines. Attendees will learn how these tools challenge persistent stereotypes and how integrating EDI training early can meaningfully reduce health inequities.

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This is a UBCO STREAM (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) event. STREAM is a multi-pronged initiative, aiming to enhance the appreciation of impactful equity-based and historically, persistently and systemically marginalized-produced scholarly work at UBCO and beyond. STREAM’s overarching philosophy is to demonstrate to students, faculty and staff that there is much to learn from marginalized voices in scholarly