Black and minority ethnic men's perceptions of Clinical Psychology as a career: A qualitative study exploring levels of career attractiveness and factors that propose a barrier for entry to the profession

The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of BME men about clinical
psychology as a profession. BME groups and men are underrepresented as clinical
psychologists and some research exists that provide some explanations for this.
These studies seem to focus strongly on the factors associated with the BME groups
and have not focused specifically on BME men. The objective of this study was
therefore to begin developing an understanding about the factors that stop BME men
entering the profession with a particular focus on the factors related to the discipline.
A constructionist grounded theory methodology was adopted to analyse the
interviews of five men from Black African and Caribbean backgrounds and the
grounded theory model 'Underrepresentation of BME men in clinical psychology' was
developed. It comprises three categories as understood by the researcher -
'Societal factors (Stereotypes & Inequalities)', 'Clinical psychology factors' and
'Aspects of BME male experience' - which cumulatively lead to low numbers of
Black African and Caribbean men as clinical psychologists. The resulting model
emphasises the responsibility of clinical psychology in addressing the
Underrepresentation of this group within the profession, by addressing its low
visibility at degree and pre-degree level, the eurocentricity of its staff composition
and theoretical basis and its role at a wider level to address stereotypes and
inequality. Further research could expand on the model by exploring the perceptions
about the profession with a more diverse and wider sample of BME men at degree
and pre-degree level.

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