Survey of American College Students 2022: Interest in Psychology, Psychiatry and Social Work

Survey of American College Students 2022: Interest in Psychology, Psychiatry and Social Work

Once again, interests from females trump that of males; about 26.3% of females were interested or highly interested versus less than 17% of males. Broken out by race or ethnicity, African American students showed particularly high level of interest, about 29% were either interested or highly interested. Broken out by religious affiliation, Mormon, Pagan and Lutheran students showed the highest levels of interest. Interest also tended to be greater from students at private than public colleges; nearly 26% of students at private colleges were interested or highly interested versus only about 22.2% of those students at public colleges. Also, students at doctoral and BA level institutions were more interested in this subject then were students from research universities, special focus or masters level collegesThis study looks at how many and what types of undergraduate students are interested in a broad range of academic and occupational fields related to psychology. Specific and detailed data sets address many particular fields such as cognitive psychology, psychiatry, industrial psychology, clinical psychology, child psychology/counseling, social work and many other areas. Academic planners can pinpoint interest in particular fields by specific student demographics. Which areas of psychology are preferred by men? By women? Which fields most interest students from the highest or lowest income brackets? Which fields most appeal to students raised abroad or those raised in the US West or US South? In which fields are African American or Asian American students most interested?

Hundreds of tables of data relating to interest in particular fields of psychology enable higher education leaders to focus programs on actual student demand. One data set looks specifically at graduate school intentions.