A Deakin University survey of postgraduate psychology students undertaking university placements required for their degrees has revealed that the majority experienced financial stress, with the burden of paid work impacting their ability to engage with the course.
Peak body, the Australian Association of Psychologists (AAPi), has reiterated its calls for paid placement for psychology students in light of the survey results.
The survey was conducted in October by Associate Professor Melissa O’Shea, Director of Clinical Psychology Programs and Partnerships, and questioned Deakin’s 90 postgraduate psychology students undertaking placements.
In response to a question about financial stress, 91 per cent reported experiencing financial stress whilst completing their course, with types of stress including difficulties buying groceries and essential items and paying bills.
Executive Director of AAPi, Tegan Carrison, says the survey data showed that psychology students were experiencing severe financial distress and disadvantage to finalise their mandatory training requirements.
“With the current cost of living crisis, we are seeing more and more psychology students experiencing extreme placement poverty,” Carrison says.
“We called for the inclusion of psychology students in the Federal Government’s paid placement scheme last May, and we now repeat this call.
“Psychology students can complete over 1000 hours of unpaid work for their placements and placement poverty has severe impacts, as this survey reveals.
“It is shortsighted to not invest adequately in the future psychologists of Australia.”
The survey also reveals that unpaid placements were a barrier for more students undertaking rural and remote placements.
“We know that we need more psychologists in rural and remote areas and one of the best ways of increasing the number of psychologists in these areas is to increase exposure to rural and remote practice during university placements,” Carrison says.
“Psychologists are only meeting 35 per cent of the Federal Government’s psychology workforce goal, so we need to significantly boost the pipeline into the profession by recognising that government-funded paid placements for our future psychologists are an absolute necessity,” she says.
In other survey results:
- Placement had impacted 92 per cent of the students’ capacity to undertake paid work, while 74 per cent said this paid work had also impacted their ability to engage with their studies.
- 96 per cent believed that students should be paid for their services in professional courses that involve placements.
“As an education provider, we are committed to developing the next generation of psychologists and addressing significant workforce shortages in the profession including in rural and regional areas,” O’Shea says.
“We are concerned that financial factors are impacting our student’s wellbeing and advocate strongly for policies that support our students as they undertake their post-graduate training.”
