PhD Psychology: A Critical Realist Look into Decolonising the Psychology Curriculum

The historical role of psychology in propagating colonial legacies has become increasingly clear. Despite this realisation, higher education institutions offering psychology education are continuing this by educating students in a manner that upholds white and western perspectives as universally valid while diminishing all others. To address this, several psychology departments in the United Kingdom are taking steps to champion inclusivity, diversity, and decolonise their curricula. However, these initiatives have faced several challenges and received varying levels of support and criticism, especially from students. My previous work has shown that these views can be highly context-dependent, meaning that different students may perceive decolonial initiatives differently due to their diverse backgrounds and experiences. This understanding has guided my present work. Through my research, I aim to deepen this understanding and use a critical realist lens to explore the various ways in which decolonial initiatives impact students, as well as uncover some of the possible underlying reasons behind these effects. Until now, I have worked on developing three decolonial activities and analysed students' mixed-methods feedback to understand their initial reactions to implementing them. I then conducted interviews of students to gain deeper insights into the possible underlying mechanisms influencing their varied reactions. I now intend to draw on these findings and plan to conclude my doctoral research with a study that will help me develop actionable steps or recommendations that can be reasonably applied in different settings to achieve positive and desirable student outcomes when implementing psychology decolonial initiatives.