Diversity in professional psychology

What is it about?

Diversity within the field of professional psychology rests heavily on the diversity of the training-to-workforce pipeline. Two major waypoints play a pivotal role in this process, namely admission to (and hence representation within) and retention in doctoral training programs. The present study reports student population data regarding three types of diversity (i.e., race/ethnicity, disability, and gender identification) within doctoral psychology education. Diversity data from the full population of enrolled doctoral students in accredited psychology programs throughout the United States from 2005–2015 were obtained from the American Psychological Association’s Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation. Analyses focused on (a) establishing the representation of diverse peoples, according to race/ethnicity, disability, and gender identification; and (b) identifying the rate of attrition among these groups. Despite no evidence of significant differences in quantitative academic qualifications (i.e., grade point average or graduate record examination scores), Black or African Americans, Hispanic/Latinos, individuals with disabilities, and men were found to be underrepresented relative to the U.S. population at large. These same groups, in addition to Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders, also evidenced higher attrition from doctoral programs. Professional psychology’s training-to-workforce pipeline lacks the diversity of the U.S. population at large, at least with respect to race/ethnicity, disability, and gender identification. Findings suggest processes at the point of admission, more than those involving retention, are most at fault.

Featured Image