WIDENING ACCESS
Widening access to a career in Clinical Psychology
This page is dedicated to increasing the diversity we see within Clinical Psychology. It's fair to say that the profession is populated mostly with white women. It's time Clinical Psychology becomes more inclusive. That is why I wanted to dedicate a page to widening access to the Clinical Psychology Doctorate. With this is mind, I aim to be as inclusive as possible by breaking down the societal barriers against gender, age, race, disability, and more. If you have any ideas of resources or what this page should look like please message me using the contact box below.
I know through this I will likely get things wrong. I am open to discussion and correction, so please, if I create any content where I make anyone feel offended or uncomfortable, message me.
LEEDS CLEARING HOUSE: EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES STATISTICS
https://www.leeds.ac.uk/chpccp/equalopps.html
This part of the Widening Access page is dedicated to showing the statistics from the Leeds Clearing House: Equal Opportunities Statistics. During the application process, the organisation collects demographics and openly publishes them. If you follow the link above, it'll take you to the page where you can look at the specifics.
When looking at the statistics I want people to be mindful of what is being shown as well as what potentially might not be shown. Statistics are tricky, and these pie charts alone are not enough to form a well rounded opinion. I suggest you look at the Leeds Clearing House statistics to get a better scope of the bigger picture before forming your judgement.
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ACCEPTANCE BY GENDER (2019)
In 2019, of the applicants who were accepted onto the course, 83% were female and 17% male.
The first problem I noticed was Leeds Clearing House only has the option to select either male or female so I can't provide any details for any other genders.
As you can see there are more females accepted onto the course compared to males.
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ACCEPTANCE BY SEXUAL ORIENTATION (2019)
In 2019, of the applicants who were accepted onto the course, 84% were Heterosexual, 4% preferred not to say, 6% were Bisexual, 2% were Gay men, 2% were Gay Women/Lesbians, 2% selected Other Sexual Orientation
As it's clear to see, majority of people who were accepted on the programme were Straight.
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ACCEPTANCE BY SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND (2019)
In 2019, of those accepted onto the course, 12% preferred not to say, 6% were in Quintile 1, 12% in Quintile 2, 13% in Quintile 3, 22% in Quintile 4, and 35% in Quintile 5.
The statistics show that majority of people who were accepted were from the highest participation rate in HE.
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ACCEPTANCE BY DISABILITY (2019)
In 2019, of those accepted onto the courses, 86% had No Disability, 13% had a Disability, and 1% preferred not to say.
This one is close to my heart because I have a Specific Learning Disability, Dyslexia. However, it's important to remember these statistics include anyone with a disability. The pie chart shows how more people who were accepted onto the course had no disability.
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ACCEPTANCE BY ETHNICITY (2019)
In 2019, of the people who were accepted onto the courses, 85% were White, 14% were Black, Asian, or another Minority Ethnicity, and 1% preferred not to say.
The pie chart shows that 85% of people on the course are White. This is a problem.
DIVERSITY SUPPORT
Below is a list of scheme and support that other organisations have created to help people apply to the Clinical Psychology Doctorate.
DISABILITY CONFIDENT SCHEME
Leeds Clearing House
The Disability Confident scheme (previously known as "two ticks" or "double-tick") is a voluntary scheme that universities can choose to sign up to. Please note that not all course centres are involved in the scheme so this will only take effect if the courses you have applied to are participating. If a course has chosen to sign up to the scheme, how they apply the scheme maybe different. For example, Sheffield University state 'applicants with a disability who meet the minimum entry criteria by achieving a score of 9 or higher, as rated by two independent members of the short-listing panel, on our short-listing criteria, will be offered an interview'. For more information, please visit:
https://www.leeds.ac.uk/chpccp/disability.html
BAME MENTORING SCHEME
BAME Working Group
The 3 Yorkshire and Humber DClinPsy training programmes (Hull, Sheffield and Leeds) are working jointly to facilitate the BAME Mentoring Scheme. The scheme aims to “level the playing field” for high-calibre BAME psychology undergraduates and recent graduates across Yorkshire and Humber region, in terms of accessing the clinical psychology profession. The scheme pairs undergraduate students with current Trainees and a Supervisor to help the person gain contacts and advice about how to pursue a career in Clinical Psychology.
Unfortunately, this current scheme has just finished for this year. However, it would be worth while googling to see if there are similar schemes within your area.
CLASS CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
This Twitter page was set up to highlight the impact of class on the career journey through Clinical Psychology. They host webinars and share relevant information about how class impacts the clinical psychology journey of people. As we saw with the pie charts, more people on the Clinical Psychology doctorate in 2019 were from higher quartiles.
Resources
Below is a list of resources that are useful to read and educate yourself with. I have tried to categorise them to highlight who they might be useful for.
Useful for everybody
Guide to Allyship is an open-source starter guide to help you become a more thoughtful and effective ally. Don't know what an ally is? That's okay, the resources introduce everything you need to know. It was created by Amelie Lamont - whom you can find on Twitter. You can click the button to the left which should take you to the page.
Useful for Professionals
A useful guide, created by the NHS Midlands Leadership team, provides a lot of well-formatted information about Allyship and how this can be fostered and empowered within a team. Clicking the button to the left should open the document.