A national human resources agenda for psychology: The need for a broader perspective.

Abstract

Although thought-provoking, Robiner's (1991, this issue) focus on the practice side of the discipline and his formulation of human resources policies for all psychologists, based on conditions facing practitioners, ignores certain other trends that may be occurring in the discipline. Of particular interest are hints that the production and supply of behavioral science researchers may be eroding, particularly in terms of the infusion of new talent into the investigator work force. Thus, the construction and implementation of a national human resources agenda requires that the supplydemand relationships for all components of psychology be considered. This will require not only efforts directed at collecting more comprehensive and sound data on human resources in psychology but also attention to examining the quality of graduate training.Robiner's (1991, this issue) overriding message is that we are confronted with an impending oversupply of psychologists, which poses a serious threat to the continued health of the discipline. He contends that "economic and political trends suggest that fewer, not more, psychologists may be needed for service and research positions" (p. 427) and that "there is no debate on whether saturation will occur, only when" (p. 434).The reasons for this state of affairs are several: The culprits, to name a few, include the unbridled production of psychologists each year, a health care system increasingly focused on containing costs, and stable prevalence rates for disorders. As a result, the need for mental health services will shrink, triggering several serious consequences (e.g., decreased attractiveness to potential students, practitioner misbehavior in order to remain financially solvent, and decreased quality of care). To prevent this scenario, Robiner (1991) proposes a series of regulatory and "self-improvement" mechanisms for implementation by key constituencies (e.g., state licensing boards, doctoral training programs, and professional associations). These include such "front-end" efforts as better targeting of doctoral production and improving the overall quality of training, along with such remedial actions as "down-sizing" training programs.Although sheer mention of the words oversupply and downsizing may be viewed as "treasonous" by some who have long worked to increase the recognition and role of psychological services, Robiner should be congratulated for presenting a set of thought-provoking issues about our current and future status as GEORGINE M. PION, PhD received her doctorate from Claremont Graduate School in 1980. A research associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University, she also is a fellow in the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies. I THANK David Cordray and Jessica Kohout for their comments on an earlier version of this article.

Minority student recruitment and retention practices among schools of professional psychology: A national survey and analysis.

“…The mandate delivered in these training conferences incorporates both the need to sensitize all trainees to ethnic/cultural/racial issues and the need to increase the numbers of minority students and practitioners. It is interesting that there appears to be widespread consensus that greater numbers of ethnic minority practitioners are needed even though the general work force needs for clinical psychology practitioners have been the subject of recent debate (see, e.g., Pion, 1991; Robiner, 1991a, 1991b; Schneider, 1991; VandenBos, DeLeon, & Belar, 1991).…”

The economic value of psychology in Australia: 2001

“…It is also important to recognise that while there may be a marginal oversupply of those with no more than a bachelor degree in psychology, this gross level of analysis does not take sufficient account of different supply and demand situations in each State and Territory, rural and metropolitan areas, the constantly expanding nature of the profession (VandenBos, DeLeon & Belar, 1991) or the different specialisations within the profession of psychology (Pion, 1991). The data available in the Census is less helpful in this regard because it is no more specific about each individual's qualifications than to denote them as ''psychology'' or ''behavioural science''.…”

Psychology in health care: Future directions.

“…In the health care arena, psychologists will function less within an independent (autonomous) practice model and more within organized health care settings (Pion, 1991). The emphasis within these organizational frameworks will be on an interdisciplinary, collaborative model with other health care professionals in which psychologists will have shared responsibility and decision making for patient care.…”