First impressions count: Ethnic/racial and lesbian/gay/bisexual content of professional psychology application materials.

Abstract

This article will help you learn about using application materials as one way to attract incoming ethnic/racial and lesbian/gay/bisexual (LGB) minority graduate students. Such materials are often an applicant's first exposure to psychology programs and are typically overlooked as tools to be used to communicate multicultural information. The authors demonstrate that professional psychology training programs approved by the American Psychological Association that have application packets with more ethnic/racial and LGB content have significantly higher numbers of ethnic/racial minority students. The data from this study also indicate that programs are making small gains in using application packages to communicate ethnic/racial minority concerns and almost never mention LGB-related issues. Recommendations are offered to help professional psychology programs make better use of application materials to attract greater numbers of ethnic/racial and LGB minority students.