Recruitment: History and Recent Trends in Diversity

Loreto R. Prieto

Early in the history of the psychology/counseling profession, few efforts were made to “recruit” culturally diverse persons; rather, diverse persons, typically through grassroots and organizational efforts, sought entry into psychology despite major resistance. This was especially true during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, as time has passed, especially within the last 3 to 4 decades, more of a concerted effort to attract diverse persons has been made by professional mental health organizations. The U.S. civil rights movement in the late 1960s was instrumental in raising awareness within psychology and counseling that the academic and professional ends of the fields might not be effectively meeting the needs of certain diverse groups, especially women and individuals from groups that differed racially or ethnically from the majority. This realization led to a focus on diversifying the personnel in the professions and the recruitment of persons from underrepresented groups. However, this ...

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