Changing Demographics in Behavioral PsychologyAlyssa Proehl

“Men: A Growing Minority” By Cassandra Willyard“Psychology, once a man's profession, now attracts mostly women. Data from the 1986 APA report, "The Changing Face

of American Psychology," and the National Science Foundation show that the percentage of psychology PhDs awarded to men has fallen from nearly 70 percent in 1975 to less than 30 percent in 2008.” (Willyard)

This shift is also seen in the workforce. Women make up 76 percent of new psychology doctorates, 74 percent of new career psychologists, and 53 percent of the psychology workforce.

According to the article, one problem is lack of diversity in the industry. With this shift, there are more women in the industry and less men, and “Clients like to see people who look like them”(Willyard). People are concerned that there are not enough male therapists to serve predominantly male populations, such as prisoners or soldiers.

In an attempt to understand the growing gender imbalance researchers surveyed 451 men and women undergraduates and found women are drawn to psychology because the perceived themselves as more empathetic than men do.

“Men: A Growing Minority” By Cassandra Willyard (Continued)

Some men say that as one of very few men in their class/profession, it is their job to represent all men. Others say that they feel “Socially isolated” because all of the outings seem to be “girls night outs” and such, or they like their “Voice isn’t heard”.

While women are becoming the majority in the field, men still hold the majority in the the echelons. There is a far larger percentage of men holding tenure positions than women.

According to Lynn Bufka, this gap persists because academia is often less than family friendly. “Women are typically the ones who have to decide whether to take a break in their tenure clock to have children.”(Willyard) She also added that universities reward people who can work more than full time, pick up last-minute tasks and devote time to leadership activities, which in most cases, those people are men. “Women,” she says, “may be inadvertently penalized.”(Willyard)

“Men: A Growing Minority” By Cassandra Willyard (Continued)

A way listed to improve the field for everyone's expansion. For example, as attorneys find employment in fields other than law, Psychologists should be able to find employment outside the traditional health fields and psychology departments. “Having more career options might boost salaries for everyone and attract more men to the field”(Willyard).

Changing DemographicsThe concept that I am applying to my industry is changing demographics. According to the textbook used in class,

“Demographics refers to statistical descriptions of characteristics of a population, such as age, race, income, educational attainment, and son. Demographics refers to who we are in the most basic of terms and thus can have a foundational impact on how we communicate with each other, how we organize and how we address critical problems in our social world.”(Miller)

Changing demographics do not only influence the organizational experience of the individuals, however they may create new challenges for communication within the organization as well as the industry.

Changing demographics can be seen in an increase in numbers of telecommuters, an increase in women on primetime television, or fewer american households consisting of married couples. The United States is a dramatically different place than is was in the recent decades that that has an affect on the different industries.

How are the Demographics Changing?There is a huge shift in sex in the psychology industry. New PhD’s in the industry are mostly women.

More Women than men are taking psychology courses.

The demographics are remaining the same in the tenure PhD positions.

Looking at the age distribution of active psychologists, there seems to be a peak at ages 56 to 65 — the "baby boomer" generation. A second, smaller peak seems to appear from ages 31 to 35.(Weir)

This will be helpful for predicting psychologist workforce numbers as baby boomers approach retirement.

How are the Demographics Changing?In addition to a takeover of women in the industry,

the psychology industry is also becoming much more racially diverse. According to the American Psychology Association, “From 2005 to 2013, the percentage of Hispanic psychologists increased by 47.4 percent; Asian psychologists by 79.5 percent; and black/African-American psychologists by 100 percent. Furthermore, active psychologists who identified as part of a racial/ethnic-minority group tend to be younger than white psychologists, suggesting that the field may be on the road to becoming even more diverse.”(Weir)

Why are the Demographics Changing?There are many reasons for the changing demographics in area of psychology. In regards to sex, some reasons for there

slowly being more women than men in psychology are;

Women in general tend to be more empathic. This gears women to being good at listening and understanding and wanting to pursue careers in psychology. A study in the journal of Teaching of Psychology suggested that more women are drawn to psychology because they perceive himself to be more empathetic than men.

More women in general as years pass are getting degrees.

Women get paid less than men in general for the same jobs. As more women enter the field, in general the pay for the same jobs is less and the net worth for the jobs in psychology goes down. Because of this, less men pursue jobs in psychology.

Women are attracted to child psychology because of their maternal instincts.

Why are the Demographics Changing?(Continued)“A 1995 APA task force explored the changing gender composition of psychology and partly attributed the growth in

women to an increased demand for psychological services and improved access for women to training and employment in the field. Federal fluctuations in social science funding tightened money for research in the 1980s, and pressure to contain health-care expenditures caused a slight decline in salaries in psychology during that time, as well. In response to that, men pursued other interests, says Dorothy Cantor, PsyD, chair of the task force. Women filled in the gap.”(Cynkar)

Other reasons for the changing demographics in area of psychology in regards to race include;

“Between 2005 and 2013, the proportion of psychologists from racial/ethnic-minority groups increased from 8.9 percent to 16.4 percent.”(Weir)

“Minority students could have a harder time finishing doctoral programs due to the cost and lack of support in navigating the academic system”(Weir), However, with recent opportunities and support, there is more and more funding and help offered for minority students who lack that support to finish their doctoral program. These newer opportunities are one of the reasons that the number of minority students has increased and continues to increase.

Why are the Demographics Changing?(Continued)

"Research shows folks who seek services tend to feel more comfortable with therapists that look like them and understand their world view," adds Townsend. "The demography of the U.S. is changing, and we want to make sure that the psychology workforce adequately reflects society."(Weir) More minority students may also want to enter the field of psychology to provide care for people who can identify better with someone of a similar culture or background.

The United States is becoming more diverse as well which would lead to an increase in racial diversity in the field of psychology, and as diversity continues to increase in the United States, diversity will continue to grow in psychology.

Where are the Demographics Changing? In regards to sex, we see the most women in Developmental Psychology, followed by family psychology (Willyard).

This does not surprise me as it shows that women are attracted to the jobs with children and families because of their maternal instincts. Men are attracted to jobs of power and success, as they want to be the “breadwinner” classically. On the same note, it does not surprise me that men would be less attracted to these fields because men are typically attracted to careers that make more money and are less child/relationship oriented.

The same source shows that the least female dominated sections of psychology are cognitive, general, and industrial/organizational psychology. This also is not surprising to me. These fields tend to be less relationship oriented, and have a lot less to do with family dynamics and children, and have a lot more to do with knowledge, and facts, and tend to make more money.

Where are the Demographics Changing? (Continued)

Men still hold the majority of the tenured positions however. The demographics are changing on a lesser scale, more of the entry level positions, as well as PhD’s.

We see the greatest gender gap between hispanic psychologists, followed by african american, followed by “other”, followed asian, and the smallest gender gap is between white psychologists. (Weir).

Women are dominating the industry not only in the United States, but all over the world. Women have outnumbered men in all of the countries that have been examined.(Olos)

Women are dominating more frequently in the part time positions, however men are still outnumbering women in areas of full time tenured positions.(Olos)

Questions:As said before, people identify best with people similar to themselves. Most of the people seeking services from

psychologists are there because its court mandated or because a parent is having them seek help, not because they necessarily want to be there. Men, or boys who aren’t already seeking help to begin with already will have a hard time opening up. It would be much easier with someone who they can identify with. Having more men in the industry can provide that for them.

Another reason why these changing demographics could be a problem is because with a lack of diversity comes a lack of viewpoints. With less men in the industry, we see less of the viewpoints of men which could do a great disservice to the industry all together.

Men on average, make more money than women, in the same careers. With fewer men in the industry, and women making less money, the careers in psychology are paying less than they were, and are becoming less financially rewarding, which is less motivation for people to enter the field.

Why Could These Changing Demographics Be a Problem?

Questions: (Continued)Why Could These Changing Demographics Be a Problem?

“In other words, as salaries became stagnant and the field lost prestige, men decided to pursue other degrees and women filled the gap.”(Willyard)

Schooling can be lonely for male students who say that their voices are often drowned out by the many female voices. Being one of the few men in his program could make some men feel socially isolated. This could also discourage men from the programs, and encourage them to pursue other career options. Men could possibly feel left out of networking opportunities, as well as social events such as “girls nights out”. (Willyard).

In “Men: A Growing Minority?” It is pointed out that many recent suicides have been among college-age men. Psychology needs men to help think up ways to reach men who won't ask for help — and to help the psychology field be the most robust profession it can be. It can best do this with a diversity of jobs, and viewpoints. (Willyard)

Questions: (Continued)

One big thing we can do to work on increasing racial diversity in the field of psychology is offer more grants and scholarship opportunities to doctoral minority students working on degrees in psychology. This would ensure that more students of minority are able to have the funding to complete their schooling, to get a career in their field. With the funding, the psychology field would be much more diverse.

Another big thing we could do to increase diversity in the field of psychology, is increase the amount of positions available in the field. This could help decrease the gender gap as well as increase racial diversity in the field. "We need to expand career options and venues, we've got to be way broader than health care." (Willyard)

“Just as attorneys find employment in fields other than law, psychologists should be able to find employment outside of the traditional health fields and psychology departments. Having more career options might boost salaries for everyone and attract more men to the field.”(Willyard)

What could we do to create more diversity in the field?

Questions: (Continued)

To draw more attention to minorities to the field we could start younger, and offer scholarships and grants to incoming minority undergraduate college students who study psychology as a major. As long as we keep strict guidelines that make sure they follow through with psychology.

Another thing we could do to increase a diversity offer more of an education of psychology at a younger age in the public schools. Adding it to the curriculum could spark an interest in kids of all sexes and races. Even if it is only a small amount of time, just exposing the children to psychology can add numbers.

What could we do to create more diversity in the field?

Questions: (Continued)

● Will the gender gap continue to increase, or will more men begin to enter the field of psychology?

○ I’m not sure about whether or not the gap will continue to increase, however, as a current psychology undergrad student, I see first hand the immediate future of psychology, and most of the students are women in my classes. Even the graduate students seem to mostly be women. I don’t see the gap closing any time in the near future.

● Will men continue to hold the majority of the full time and tenure positions?

○ I don’t think they will. As more of the baby boomer generation retires, I think more and more women will take the tenure and full time positions that men previously held. Many modern day women are able to hold full time positions and pick up extra hours.

Questions for the Future:

Questions: (Continued)

Will racial diversity continue to increase in the field of psychology?

Yes. I’m sure that as time continues and as the United States becomes more diverse, more diversity will come to psychology. We already see some grants and scholarships aimed towards minorities, and more would really help to increase diversity faster. Expanding the field, as mentioned before, would also bring in more diversity and could help so many more people.

Will the field of psychology expand to create new jobs and fields within psychology?

I think it will. As new people enter the field and work on their graduate degrees people will come up with new theories and new ideas, and just as the current divisions were developed new ones will also develop.

Questions for the Future:

Work Cited: Cynkar, A. (2007, June). The Changing Gender Composition of Psychology. Retrieved February 02, 2016, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun07/changing.aspx

Miller, K. (2012). Organizational communication: Approaches and processes.

Olos, L. (2006, January 11). Gender ratios in European psychology. Retrieved February 02, 2016, from http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/epp/11/1/1/

Weir, K. (2015, November). Who are Today's Psychologist's? Retrieved February 02, 2016, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/11/todays-psychologists.aspx

Willyard, C. (2011, January). Men: A growing minority? Retrieved January 15, 2016, from http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2011/01/cover-men.aspx