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POSITION
STATEMENT
MARCH 2021
TO HIGHLIGHT
The Impact of Class in Clinical Psychology
#CLASSCLINPSYCH
@ C L A S S C L I N
Socio-economic Status & Applications to Clinical
Psychology Doctoral Training
2019 data from the Clearing House website
Amy Goddard, Celine Brookes-Smith, Elizabeth Henshaw, Katie Place,
Sarah St Ledger, Dr Will Curvis and Dr Ben Campbell
The ‘Being Working Class in Clinical Psychology’
webinars were set up in summer 2020 for people at
different points in their clinical psychology career.
The free webinars consist of a panel of trainee and
qualified clinical psychologists that identify as being
working class. The panel shares their experiences of
pursuing their career, training and working as clinical
psychologists, reflecting on both positive aspects
and challenges.
Page 02
@ C L A S S C L I N
SUMMARY
Being Working Class in
Clinical Psychology
webinars
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
The following themes, reported on
pages 3 - 9, are derived from a thematic
analysis of the webinar transcripts,
feedback surveys and #ClassClinPsych
tweets.
Number of Webinars: YouTube Views:
5 5119
Page 03
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
Visible and invisible parts of a
person's identity all intersect
“There's a lot of fighting around
space and people want to get a voice
across [...] one person might be really
interested in class, or someone else
might really want to talk about race
or gender identity […] some people
are privileged in some ways and
disadvantaged in others."
“I've always thought of it as a moment of
luck, but [...] it was a moment of
my privileges helping me to [...] push on in
that career. I think ashamedly I've been in
that camp of ‘I've gotten here because
I've worked really hard'.”
THEME 1
Intersectionality
@ C L A S S C L I N
Page 04
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
Being working class in a
middle class profession
“That transition into being surrounded by
folks who came from much more middle
class backgrounds [...]I found it really
difficult because it felt like I didn't fit in
there, but as time went on, it felt like I
didn't really fit into my own environment
either. I found that it became more
difficult to talk to friends that I went to
school with."
"You spend £10 a day on hot
drinks, right? [...] being poor we never
had the luxury of going to coffee shops […]
I just remember the dissonance that I felt
drinking it."
THEME 2
Being 'Muddle Class'
@ C L A S S C L I N
Page 05
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
Pejorative societal narratives
around being working class
“They said "don’t get on that bus, it goes
through a really rough estate and there
are benefits scroungers and they
have grotty council houses". My
other friend said "oh yeah, that is [...] bus,
that’s where she lives". You realise you’re
different and that's potentially where
the impostor syndrome begins.”
"I was working with a psychologist who
thought that if you had a chippy tea on a
Friday night it was a sign of neglect”.
THEME 3
Shame
@ C L A S S C L I N
Page 06
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
It's not what you know, it's
who you know
"The lack of knowledge about the
profession and the system [...] I have
found it highly difficult to understand and
figure out how the system works [...] what
the route to clinical psychology was [...]
how to make connections with people
within the profession that could support
my journey by providing useful
information and advice."
"It's very daunting to not have any
anyone that you know who's done an
undergraduate degree, never mind
anything further than that."
THEME 4
Social Capital
@ C L A S S C L I N
Page 07
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
The impact of a lack of
economic capital
"There was a point in uni where I just
completely ran out of money. I didn’t
have the money for rent and had to go to
get the student hardship fund. That was
just added stress. It was just a horrible
experience, not having money and
having to kind of beg for money from a
very, very affluent university."
"In order to afford the bus fare to get to
my honorary assistant psychologist
position, I would eat less during the week
and save up the money to get an offer
return ticket."
THEME 5
Economic Capital
@ C L A S S C L I N
Page 08
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
Changing parts about
yourself to fit the mould
"Doing presentations and stuff
with people [...] speaking the Queen’s
English to me [...] speaking with a
northern accent makes me feel a little bit
inferior [...] I think on an unconscious level
I definitely changed my accent
throughout university.”
“I tried to assimilate to middle class ways
of being [e.g. accent/style of
speaking/language use] because it can
often feel like the only way to get into
and survive within the profession.”
THEME 6
Moulding Self
@ C L A S S C L I N
Page 09
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
Being working class
enriches the profession.
“I think it’s just unimaginable stress
when you don’t know where your
next meal is going to come from [...] that’s
been a real benefit to understand
that kind of stress and be able to talk
about it with people I work with."
"The therapy models that we use are
completely ignorant of context and
where people are, what was going on for
them [...] like making sense of why people
don't come to appointments - because
they can't afford it."
THEME 7
Professional Values
@ C L A S S C L I N
Psychology as a profession has a
responsibility to promote psychological
safety and actively acknowledge and
address issues and barriers surrounding
class, in order to effectively support both
professionals and service users who are
affected by class-based discrimination.
RESULTING IN
Actionable Insights
Page 10
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
@ C L A S S C L I N
F r o m t h e t h e m e s w e h a v e
g e n e r a t e d 8 A c t i o n a b l e
I n s i g h t s , r e p o r t e d o n p a g e s 1 1 -
1 4 , t h a t m i g h t h e l p p s y c h o l o g y
p r o f e s s i o n a l s t o m a k e t h e
p r o f e s s i o n m o r e d i v e r s e a n d
i n c l u s i v e .
Page 11
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
@ C L A S S C L I N
Is a first or a masters
necessary?
There are significant socioeconomic barriers to
undergraduate and postgraduate study.
Training courses and employers could
consider how applicants can demonstrate their
competencies.
ACTIONABLE INSIGHT 1
Postgraduate Study
ACTIONABLE INSIGHT 2
Selection Transparency
Courses and employers could
be more transparent about
shortlisting and utilise
contextual selection
Applicants have a range of clinical and
interpersonal skills. Courses and employers
should be transparent about how factors are
weighted during shortlisting and selection, and
include contextual selection measures.
Page 12
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
@ C L A S S C L I N
ACTIONABLE INSIGHT 4
Access to Information
Greater access and quality of
materials relating to careers in
psychology
Ensure informative resources are updated
regularly, are free to access and easy to find.
ACTIONABLE INSIGHT 3
Flexible Learning
Courses and employers
could offer more flexible
working options
Training courses and employers should
embrace the learning from the pandemic to
create an innovative and inclusive culture
based around flexibility and supporting
personal circumstances; for example exploring
remote and part-time working/learning or
remote interviews.
Page 13
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
@ C L A S S C L I N
Many young working class people are not
aware of what a psychologist does or how to
become one. Being a psychologist is not seen
as a possible career path.
ACTIONABLE INSIGHT 6
Visibility in Schools
Increasing visibility of
psychology professions at
schools and colleges
Mentoring has been identified as a support
system that would be welcomed by those who
do not have access to traditional networking
opportunities.
Mentoring systems for people
who identify as being from a
working class background
ACTIONABLE INSIGHT 5
Mentoring Systems
Page 14
# C L A S S C L I N P S Y C H
@ C L A S S C L I N
Open the discussion around
class and privilege
Over the past year ClassClinPsych have been
met with a huge response to these discussions.
We have seen the value of normalising
conversations around personal identities, and
how we carry those identities into our
professional lives.
ACTIONABLE INSIGHT 8
Identity Discussions
Recruitment for these roles is often unfair and
based on social capital. They frequently
sidestep the formal employment processes
which is an issue for fairness and equality.
Many individuals from a working class
background cannot afford to work for free,
allowing those who can to 'get ahead' and
secure paid assistant posts more easily.
Phasing out voluntary and
honorary assistant posts
ACTIONABLE INSIGHT 7
Honorary Posts
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MARCH 2021
#CLASSCLINPSYCH
@ C L A S S C L I N
A hu ge th an k y ou to e v er yo n e wh o h as sh ar e d
t h ei r e xp er i en ce s s o f ar , a nd t o e ve r yo ne wh o
h a s at t en de d a w e bi na r , or en ga g ed w i th u s o n
T w it te r . A s pe ci a l th a nk y o u to th e m em be r s of
t h e Cl a ss Cl i nP sy c h me n to ri n g gr o up , a nd t o
M u nz ar Sh ar i f an d J ul i an ah Fa ko l ad e fo r
f a ci li t at in g t he Cl as s Cl in P sy ch we bi n ar s.
