Diversifying Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology: A Change Gonna Come

Workforce diversity is an ongoing challenge in the field of clinical child and adolescent psychology. This article discusses individual, institutional, and nonspecific factors that contribute to a lack of diversity among clinical child and adolescent psychologists and offers suggestions to diversify and advance the field of clinical child and adolescent mental health.

Seventeen professors, licensed psychologists, faculty, and clinicians in the field of clinical child and adolescent psychology answered questions about workforce diversity and who is permitted access to the field. No formal research was conducted.

Individual factors included: racial discrimination and microaggressions, feelings of isolation, otherness, and not belonging. Institutional factors included: racism in academia, racial underrepresentation, ethnocentric and culturally-biased training, biased admissions selection processes, financial barriers, and lack of institutional commitment. Nonspecific factors were: values misalignment, hidden expectations, suboptimal mentoring, and limited research opportunities.

Drawing on recent scholarship and the Contexts, Actions, and Outcomes (CAO) Model, we recommend institutional changes in programs, policies, practices, resources, climate, partnerships, and inquiry to improve diversity in the field of clinical child and adolescent psychology.