This research explored the possible reasons for the lack of males in professional psychology
in the South African context, by examining the reasons why second and third year, male
psychology students decide not to enter postgraduate studies in psychology. A mixed
methods research design was employed. The quantitative aspect consisted of the
administration of a questionnaire including the Male Attitude Norms Inventory-II (MANI-II),
a questionnaire measuring levels of hegemonic masculinity, to test for the degree to which
hegemonic masculinity may influence the decision to pursue or not to pursue postgraduate
studies in psychology. The qualitative aspect involved semi-structured, one-on-one
interviews with second and third year undergraduate, male, psychology students who
specified that they did not intend on pursuing postgraduate studies in psychology. This aspect
of the research was designed to determine the possible reasons for the decision not to pursue
postgraduate studies in psychology, as well as to assess the degree to which masculinity
affects this decision. Quantitative results showed that there was not a significant difference on
the MANI-II between groups (although certain individual items did show significant results).
The results of the qualitative interviews showed that many issues were potentially
contributing to distorted and negative views of professional psychology, although a major
finding was that the participants viewed their masculinity as being incompatible with the
requirements of professional psychology and that professional psychology would be an
unfulfilling career. Recommendations included greater education on the reality of the work
involved in professional psychology as well as possibly increasing the exposure of
undergraduate males to postgraduate and professional male psychologists as well as greater
consultation to improve the media‟s representation to reflect the realities of psychological
practice
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/15232 |
| Date | 22 August 2014 |
| Creators | Williams, Robert James |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf |
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