Despite psychology being the most popular major for undergraduate students, a small percentage of those individuals go on to pursue psychology as a profession. And even fewer pursue neuropsychology. This isn’t solely due to lack of interest, but in general there is a lack of awareness of the neuropsychology as a profession. This also is reflected in the dearth of diversity among neuropsychological professionals. These realities have a marked impact on accessibility and quality of care. Key to addressing these issues is reaching individuals at younger ages to raise awareness about the field.
This talk discusses the demographic realities and provides an overview of practical initiatives to address current challenges in general familiarity with the field of neuropsychology among potential future clinicians.

Data from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Indigenous Tribal Colleges were aggregated and analyzed to assess student awareness and interest in psychology. Demographics for current neuropsychology trainees and professionals were assessed to determine trends in career diversity as compared to diversity in undergraduate populations.

Psychology is the 5th most popular major for degree conferral in the United States. Demographics for undergraduate psychology majors (51% White; 13% Black; 21% Hispanic; 7% Asian; 0.4% Indigenous) demonstrate diversity that is more reflective of the general population (59.3% White; 12.6% Black; 18.9% Hispanic; 6% Asian; 0.7% Indigenous) than that of neuropsychology trainees and clinicians (75.9% White, 10.8% Hispanic, 5.1% Black, 4.2% Asian and 0.4% Native/Indigenous). The disparities demonstrate that Black, Hispanic, and Asian populations are underrepresented among neuropsychology professionals.

To meet the population trends of increasing BIPOC communities and to ensure adequate representation among historically underrepresented groups, deliberate initiatives are necessary to expand awareness and promote neuropsychology as a viable career among students.