Dietetics Profession Privilege

Privilege is defined as the unearned advantages afforded to persons who identify with the majority or normative group(s). Privilege in dietetics manifests in many ways that reinforce a status quo whereby some individuals remain marginalized. It is structural, that is, it exists in the structure of society. Without dominant and marginalized groups, there is no privilege. ​ Privilege does not describe you as an individual. But, individuals who benefit from privileges may not even realize it. That’s because privilege is the status quo for people who have it. People who don’t have a particular privilege don’t have it quite as easy as the people who do.

The Dietetics Profession Privilege Quiz is a quiz to measure your own privilege in dietetics to help you better understand your relative advantage and alignment with norms in the profession.

That's a great question! There is no perfect measure of privilege, which shifts and changes as our social structure and understanding changes too. We tested this tool in about 900 dietetic professionals but persons of some marginalized identities were underrepresented in our sample. Results indicate that this is a good measure of racial/ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic privilege. (cis)Gender and (hetero)sexuality privilege, able-bodied privilege, and others types of privilege may not be measured as effectively. A good measure of privlege (in essence, one that remains relevant) should be tested, re-tested, and updated regularly. This is the first validated tool to exist to measure privilege in the dietetics profession and it has some limitations.