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Utah's Foremost Platform for Undergraduate Research Presentation
2021 Abstracts

How Intersectionality, Lack of Diversity and Inclusion Affects Outdoor Recreation Use:An Examination of Outdoor Leadership Acade

Presenter: Pamela Holiday, College of Social Sciences, Applied Sociology
Authors: Pamela O Holiday
Faculty Advisor: Robert Oxley, College of Social Sciences, Applied Sociology
Institution: Dixie State University

Presentation Title: How Intersectionality, Lack of Diversity and Inclusion Affects Outdoor Recreation Use: An Examination of Outdoor Leadership Academy (OLA) and Underrepresented Social Groups. There is a lack of diversity identified in National Park visitor statistics. As a result of that finding, a development of outdoor recreation programs aimed to address and provide outdoor experience opportunities to marginalized social groups has been initiated. One of those organizations, the Outdoor Leadership Academy (OLA) at Dixie State University, is designed to provide outdoor experiences and leadership development for underrepresented groups. Specifically, the OLA works with individuals who self-identify as belonging to social groups such as minorities, individuals with health disparities, LGBTQ+ and/or from a low socioeconomic background. Under the Quality of Life Initiative, the Institute for Social Research (ISR) will collaborate with OLA for the 2020-2021 study. Through mixed research methods and with OLA’s support and access to social groups, the ISR will analyze levels of change and/or patterns of social group behavior. The ISR seeks to reveal the level of detriment in having a social status within an underrepresented social group and its impact on outdoor recreation opportunity and activity. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing guidelines, data collection through participant observation for the 2020-2021 OLA outdoor activities may be limited.