Wood, Helena; (2023) Educational psychologists' views on white privilege. Doctoral thesis (D.Ed.Psy), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

There is an identified need for more race-focused research in the field of educational psychology. ‘White privilege’ is a key concept often raised in connection with critical race theory and anti-racist practice which has not been previously explored in this profession. This thesis examines the concept of white privilege as it relates to educational psychology practice. The review paper assesses the effectiveness of educational diversity interventions in raising awareness of white privilege. A systematic search identified 15 papers which were evaluated rigorously using a weight of evidence framework. The review concludes that, despite their heterogeneity, educational diversity interventions are effective in raising awareness of white privilege. The strength of this evidence is however limited, for example by methodological weaknesses and the fact that all 15 studies were US-based. Implications for educational psychologists, limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. The empirical paper narrows in on the UK context by exploring UK educational psychologists’ views on white privilege. An online survey gathered both quantitative and qualitative data from 101 participants to answer four research questions. Reflexive thematic analysis explored five themes relating to how educational psychologists define white privilege. Quantitative data indicated that the majority of participants agree that there is evidence white privilege manifests within the educational psychology profession, and participants perceived that it is important for educational psychologists to understand white privilege. A second reflexive thematic analysis of qualitative data built on these quantitative findings by exploring the reasons why participants held these views. Implications and recommendations are discussed. This research makes a distinct contribution to the evidence-base on the topic of anti-racism in educational psychology, and has implications for research, policy and practice. The final chapter of this thesis discusses the research impact in depth and outlines a plan for disseminating the findings to both academic and non-academic audiences.

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