Exploring the Impact of Increasing the Number of Black Men in Professional Psychology

Abstract

The underrepresentation of Black men in professional psychology represents a critical issue, but this topic has received relatively limited coverage in the extant literature. Given the complex challenges facing many Black communities, we contend that increasing the number of African American male professional psychologists represents one component of the multi-pronged plan to tackle these problems. However, there is a dearth of scholarship that explicitly highlights the potential contributions Black men can make to professional psychology, particularly those with an African/Black psychology lens. We address this gap by exploring the impact of increasing the number of Black male professional psychologists. We detail the contributions Black male psychologists can make in clinical, academic, and research settings, with a particular focus on how their work can affect outcomes for Black boys and men in these three settings. Embedded in our analysis, we highlight the need to incorporate an African/Black psychology lens to address the needs of Black communities. We also examine how the increased presence of Black male professional psychologists can potentially influence other Black men to consider and enter the field. This information will be of particular interest to educators, researchers, and practitioners invested in enhancing the professional psychology pipeline for Black men.

Academic Leaderships Views of School Psychology and Black Students: The Case of Historically Black Colleges and Universities

“…Currently, Black men are significantly underrepresented at all levels of the psychology pipeline. For the 2012 academic year Black men earned 1% of all doctoral degrees awarded in psychology, whereas Black women represented 5% of all newly minted psychologists (Beasley, Miller, & Cokley, ). As such, HBCU programs should be surveyed to determine if differences exist in mentoring and career trajectories of their male and female graduates.…”

Why Don’t You See Me?: Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Black Male Students

“…Changing perceptions of Black male students among teachers is an important step. However, stakeholders have to continue to work together to recruit and retain more Black mental health practitioners and teachers (Beasley, Miller, & Cokley, 2015;Bristol & Goings, 2019). Considerable research highlights the disconnect between Black and White teacher's perceptions of Black students (Cherng & Halpin, 2016).…”

“Other Fields Are More Lucrative and Sexy”: A Qualitative Examination of the Low Number of Men in Psychology

“…Finally, due to the decade-long shortage of men in nursing and teaching, researchers have invested significant attention to examining these areas, whereas psychology has not received similar empirical attention. For example, our literature review found only one theoretical article (Beasley, Miller, & Cokley, 2015) and one empirical study (Isacco, Hammer, & Shen-Miller, 2016) on men in psychology. Unfortunately, prior research has not directly examined factors that contribute to the lower numbers in this female majority field or discussed the role career counselors can play in addressing this gender disparity in their work with boys and men.…”