Division 44 public comments to the APA commission on accreditation: Promoting equity, accountability, and transparency in doctoral psychology training.

Abstract

Training program accreditation by the American Psychological Association (APA) in doctoral health service psychology (HSP) serves as a critical indicator of basic educational standards and skill proficiencies. HSP training program accreditation standards also require recruitment and retention of diverse groups of students and faculty with marginalized identities. However, the APA Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (Division 44) and other stakeholders affiliated with APA have raised concerns about potential discrepancies between how APA accreditation standards are represented and how they are enforced. Division 44 and other groups have also raised concerns about (a) potentially biased methods of soliciting feedback from students and faculty, (b) difficulties obtaining information about accredited programs, and (c) a lack of transparency within the accreditation process as it relates to issues of great interest to the public. Thus, in this article, we summarize a series of public comments to the APA Commission on Accreditation submitted on behalf of Division 44 and its allies. We assert that the current accreditation standards and enforcement practices must be improved to (a) enhance public transparency; (b) decrease power imbalances that disincentivize critical feedback from students/trainees, especially among groups of students/trainees from marginalized identities (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer spectrum; people of color); and (c) provide operational definitions and systematic means of program assessment related to diversity-focused practices of accredited programs. We conclude by summarizing recent positive developments in response to these advocacy efforts. Public Significance StatementIn this public comment, we argue that the postsecondary accreditation system must strengthen critical protections and subsequent enforcement of diversity, equity, and inclusion standards that protect marginalized students, staff, and faculty. To meet these goals, we propose ways that postsecondary accreditors (including the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation) and regulators (such as the U.S. Department of Education) could work to remedy these problems.

Making the leap to socially responsive research training in health service psychology.

“…A second approach is the building of accountability, be it journal editors being accountable for the efforts to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the peer-review process, or psychology training programs being required to present data on socially responsive research training as part of the accreditation process. Indeed, systematizing assessment of diversity-related research training should be an integral aspect of program accreditation standards and procedures (Wolff et al, 2021). Widespread implementation of tools such as this module in the context of HSP training would represent an important shift in the way HSP research is defined, conducted, and consumed.…”