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New research found that many students, particularly those from minority backgrounds, noticed immediately when research didn\u2019t include people like them.<\/p>\n
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In my university classroom, when my students learn about the psychology of romantic relationships, they read studies conducted on white, heterosexual college students at American universities. When they turn to how children grow and develop, the samples look much the same: Western, educated, middle-class families. When they study why people follow orders even when they know they shouldn\u2019t, the research again draws on the same narrow slice of humanity.<\/p>\n
This is psychology\u2019s dirty secret: For decades, the field has built its understanding of the human experience on research that excludes most humans. What this means for scientific validity has been debated for years, but the impact on students sitting in our classrooms has been ignored.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To answer this question, my colleagues and I went directly to the source. We held focus groups with undergraduate psychology students and asked what they noticed about who was being studied in the research their professors taught them. What they told us should worry anyone who cares about the future of science.<\/p>\n
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In our newly published research, we found<\/a> that many students, particularly those from minority backgrounds, noticed immediately when research didn\u2019t include people who looked like them, loved like them, or came from families like theirs. And it affected them deeply. They described feeling frustrated, discouraged, even \u201cdisturbed.\u201d Some said it made them doubt whether they belonged in the field; a few had already abandoned plans for a research career.<\/p>\n This is, ultimately, a problem for all of us. In recent years, psychology has made real efforts to diversify its ranks and broaden who gets studied, because a more diverse field produces better, more generalizable science. But those efforts face a quiet headwind: If students never see themselves reflected in psychological research, they may decide the field is not for them, before they ever enter the pipeline. The progress psychology has worked hard to make becomes even harder to sustain.<\/p>\n Fortunately, our study also pointed toward a solution, but it is one that lawmakers are now actively dismantling. Students who had professors who openly acknowledged the limitations of research\u00a0\u2014 who said in effect, \u201cthis study was conducted on a narrow sample, and here\u2019s why that matters\u201d\u00a0\u2014 felt more engaged, more seen, and more motivated. Students were not asking for much, just honesty about what psychology knows, and about whom.<\/p>\n