Interview with a Psychologist: Representing Marginalized Psychologists and Diversity Science in Psychology Coursework

Abstract

Introduction Since the 1990’s, psychology has demonstrated a strong commitment to the full spectrum of human diversity (Vera & Speight, 2003). Statement of the Problem However, psychologists from underrepresented backgrounds and diversity science (DS) remain marginalized in psychology (Syed & Kathawalla, 2020), which affects the ease with which instructors can integrate diversity into psychology curricula and student learning. Literature Review Accordingly, this paper provides instructors with a potential solution for increasing the representation of marginalized psychologists (MP) and DS in psychology courses through the Interview with a Psychologist project. This project was informed by the interdisciplinary psychological literature highlighting the importance of representing marginalized communities and their experiences in the classroom. Teaching Implications The Interview with a Psychologist project is adaptable across academic settings. When implementing the project, instructors should be mindful of the minority tax on psychologists, avoid tokenism, and self-educate on diversity-related issues. Conclusions As psychology departments pursue institutional efforts to diversify the field of psychology, the Interview with a Psychologist project ensures MP and DS are well-represented in psychology courses.

The ReSearching Identity Podcast Project: Developing a Brief and Inclusive Professional Identity Intervention for Higher Education

“…Third, we cannot rule out that the data collection and surveys per se served as a set of mini-interventions (Syed et al, 2011), in which students were repeatedly asked to reflect on their professional identity development. Fourth, despite our best efforts to counter known pitfalls in diversity education, such as tokenism and teachers not selfeducating (Fish, 2023), we have to acknowledge that these practices contrasted the often generalizing and biased representations of diversity that students have become familiar with in the higher education curriculum (Vietze, Jongerling, et al, 2022). Importantly, due to high work pressures, teachers may need more support and a variety of tools beyond podcasting to self-educate on diversity and marginalization in education.…”

“…Next to the benefits for students' learning experiences, we implemented educational podcasting to increase the acceptability of the Identity Podcast Project among higher education teachers, who delivered the intervention to students. It allowed us to account for three important pitfalls of addressing diversity in education: the minority tax, tokenism, and a lack of teacher self-education (Fish, 2023;Settles et al, 2019). Firstly, using existing podcast recordings with international, marginalized scholars instead of creating new content with teachers allowed us to reduce the minority tax, meaning the time and effort typically required from marginalized scholars or employees, and not scholars from dominant backgrounds, to increase the representation of minoritized scholars in diversity education (Vasquez et al, 2006).…”

“…The intervention program 4 was largely based on the Interview with a Psychologist project (Fish, 2023). In line with this original project by Jill Fish (2023), a three-theme structure allowed us to expose students to rich representations of marginalized and diversity scholars' experiences (Theme 1), facilitate a sense of connection to others (Theme 2), and have students integrate these representations with their own understanding of the self and society (Theme 3).…”

“…In line with this original project by Jill Fish (2023), a three-theme structure allowed us to expose students to rich representations of marginalized and diversity scholars' experiences (Theme 1), facilitate a sense of connection to others (Theme 2), and have students integrate these representations with their own understanding of the self and society (Theme 3). By exposing all students to rich representations of marginalized professionals' experiences (Theme 1), we aimed to optimally "leverage the power of representation" for students with and without marginalized identities (Fish, 2023): On the one hand, the intervention provided the opportunity to enhance the professional and social self-understanding of students with marginalized identities, and, on the other hand, it broadened the understanding of diversity and identity alternatives for students without marginalized identities. Each of the three themes took shape in one to three educational assignments (see Figure 2), combining teacher-generated and formative, student-generated podcasting (Drew, 2017;Kidd, 2012).…”

Social Justice Pedagogy: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Teaching of Psychology

“…Various manuscripts describe practical projects and activities that center the experiences of historically marginalized groups, build critical-consciousness, and discuss opportunities to increase skills that prepare students for social justice action. Fish's (2023) interview with a psychologist project strives to increase representation of marginalized psychologists thereby amplifying their voices and experiences. Pickering (2023) describes an instructive tower-building activity that exposes students to an active learning and high-impact experience with privilege and marginalization.…”