140 psychology students claim poor suitability rating

psychology

Psychology students at four universities are concerned that students' suitability for professional education is not adequately assessed throughout their education. The department head at NTNU agrees.

– Many feel that suitability assessment is insufficient. We feel that we have not been assessed well enough, so that we can feel confident that those who should be caught will be caught, says NTNU psychology student Øyvind Emnes Sivertsen.

He took the initiative, along with his colleague Julie Othili Hansen, to issue a letter of concern that was published in Khrono magazine.

The letter was signed by 140 students on professional courses in psychology at NTNU, the University of Oslo, the University of Bergen and the Arctic University of Norway's UiT.

“Many of us know students who we are not sure if they have the qualities a psychologist should have.” For example, it may be difficult to communicate with them and establish a relationship with them. Some have encountered inappropriate behavior from fellow students in private contexts. “This makes us anxious,” Sivertsen tells Khrono.

– My experience is that we are the students who have been delegated a lot of responsibility for reporting. I think a lot of people find that a burden.

– High threshold for reporting

Sivertsen says reporting is difficult because it's also about legal certainty, and notes that the process must protect your rights as a student.

When fellow students say they believe a student is not qualified to become a psychiatrist, they must submit something similar to a police report with the name of the person concerned, the reasons, and their signature.

“And of course, this makes the threshold for reporting other students when suspicious high.

In a letter of concern, the 140 students wrote that there are several reasons why suitability assessment is inadequate today.

Among other things, they point out that the study is very theoretical with little practice. This means that universities do not have the opportunity to catch students who should have received guidance or were assessed as unsuitable.

Group exercises and role-playing are carried out with fellow students, many involving simulated role-playing games. They write that these are artificial positions. Students' personal qualities are not tested.

-I advocate for more practice and situations where we students can get feedback about our assessments, abilities, and interpersonal skills. These are qualities that we know are crucial for psychologists to be able to help, says Øyvind Emnes Sivertsen.

—If we had more practice, with clearly defined learning and competency objectives, it would be possible, for example, for supervisors to approve or disapprove of the work we do. We need more measures to evaluate ourselves, continues the psychology student.

Last year, there were no reports of doubts about her suitability for a psychology degree at NTNU.

In total, institutional managers processed 50 reports of suspicion, but this was for other studies.

No such cases were brought to the table of the Ethics Committee. The largest number concerns nursing students.

Department Head: —We can do better

Head of the Department of Psychology at NTNU, Magne Arve Flaten, read the entire publication to 140 students. In an email to Khrono, he wrote:

— The students’ conclusion is that assessing suitability in professional studies in psychology is not sufficient today. Unfortunately, I agree with them on that.

He also writes that instances of suitability often come late in the course of study, which is particularly unfortunate for those involved.

– 140 psychology students point out important reasons behind this. Our staff carry out ongoing assessments of students' suitability throughout professional studies, but we can improve on this.

– how?

“We are establishing a local suitability committee, among other things, to increase resources associated with suitability assessments, lower the threshold for reporting concerns, conduct assessments earlier, and bring closer to the reports of doubt that employees receive about this,” answers Flaten.

anxiety

Per Håkan Brøndbo, head of the Department of Psychology at the Arctic University of Norway, UiT, tells Khrono that he heard about the letter from 140 psychology students, but stressed that he did not know its contents.

After being told parts of the content, the department chair says that relevance to the subject matter of psychology can often be a difficult issue to navigate.

“I'm a little concerned that you sometimes confuse proficiency with a minimum professional level, without it necessarily being calibrated against a grading system,” Brondbaugh says.

– There will likely be a number of cases that were not supposed to be in the trapping path – and vice versa.

— Is the institute doing enough to ensure good routines around suitability?

– I feel like we generally have good routines when it comes to fitness. So, I think parts of the discussion should also revolve around the grading system and around our image that a qualified psychologist is compatible with a student who always gets the lowest possible grade, Brondbaugh answers.

When asked whether the institution was able to catch students who were not considered suitable to be future psychologists, Brondbaugh answered that he believed most of them had been caught.

– So of course there is a gray area here. The profession of a psychologist is a very broad end product. One may be more or less suited to different parts of a future psychology career. Here, it is important to find the right balance, says the department head.