By Vivien Beduya

Content warning: This article mentions sexual harassment.

Nearly half of Māori, Pacific and Asian psychologists and interns surveyed in a new report experienced racism at work in the past 12 months.

New research from the University of Waikato and Working to End Racism and Oppression (WERO) “highlights psychology’s failings to provide a culturally safe environment” for psychologists, academic staff and students.

The Kia Whakapapa Pounamu Survey, which had 293 participants and was conducted from March 25 to June 30 2023, surveyed psychologists, academic staff, and students about how racism manifests in different areas of psychology.

Researcher Dr Kyle Tan (Malaysian Chinese) says the study doesn’t reveal something “new”, and stems from the racism in psychology that Māori psychologists have been calling attention to for at least four decades.

A 1987 paper ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ published by Max Abbott and Mason Durie outlined evidence of monocultural (Eurocentric) dominance within psychologist training programmes.

According to the report, Dr Michelle Levy lodged a Waitangi Tribunal claim in 2018 documenting multiple Te Tiriti breaches within the psychology discipline’s employment, training and regulation.

Dr Kyle Tan is part of the core team of researchers and says the study stems from the racism in psychology that Māori psychologists have been calling attention to for at least 40 years. (Photo: Supplied)

Eurocentric psychology is ‘very dominant’

The new report found 75% of those surveyed expressed concern about Eurocentric psychology and nearly 90% thought their worldviews were never or only sometimes reflected in training.

“Western psychology, Western knowledge, is very dominant [in] every aspect of psychology,” Kyle says.

“Historically, [the] psychology model in Aotearoa, we imported it from the British and the reason why it’s so hard to change psychology… because psychologists have the tendency to think it’s neutral [and] it’s objective.

“It tells Māori and Asian people to not think about our culture because when we start thinking about culture, it’s biased.”

He says the students or psychologists who have taken part in the survey said that if they bring up culture in class or their practice or try to build relationships with clients, their lecturers or supervisors would tell them to stop because it’s a form of bias. 

The discipline needs to start viewing Pākehā as a culture, Kyle says, so it could be seen as one way of doing psychology, instead of being the only way.

“Once we start to unpack that, I think everyone has a chance to survive in psychology.”

Asians more likely to experience sexual harassment

Asian psychologists and interns were found more likely to experience sexual harassment in the past year (19%) and they were more likely to experience microaggressions due to racism (64%), the way they dress or their appearance (43%), or accent or language spoken (36%).

Registered psychologist Sehar Moughal, who works primarily with South Asian communities, says she’s not surprised by these findings.

Sehar, 35, is originally from Pakistan and has been in Aotearoa for more than two decades.

She says wearing jewellery is part of her culture, and people tend to focus on her appearance in meetings and other professional settings.

“There’s the underlying assumption of being exotic, being hypersexualised… We have to prove and work really hard to say that we are psychologists,” she says.

“The number of times people have been surprised when I’ve introduced myself and then that’s normally followed by a sexual joke about therapy.”

Registered psychologist Sehar Moughal is originally from Pakistan and has been in Aotearoa for more than two decades. (Photo: Supplied)

‘You’re so sexy as a psychologist’, ‘You’re so hot’, and ‘What sort of therapy services do you provide?’ are some of the comments Sehar says she’s heard from some psychologists and professionals.

She says those comments undermine her and her knowledge, and she has to work hard to re-establish her expertise and authority as a psychologist.

“As a migrant brown Asian woman, I am wary to complain about unwanted remarks or behaviours directed towards me. I think about the potential consequences of going through the process.

“Would it hurt me more?”

The systemic barriers for Māori to enter the workforce

Māori were more likely (81%) to witness racism in the past year and scored significantly higher on the microaggression scale, due to racism (76%), as well as the way of dressing or appearance (35%).

Pikihuia Pomare (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Pūkenga) is an associate professor in Kaupapa Māori Psychology at Massey University and says she wasn’t surprised about the findings.

“The report mirrors my own experiences and the experiences of some of my Māori, Pacific, Asian colleagues,” she says.

Pikihuia Pomare is the first Kura graduate to be a Māori academic in psychology. (Photo: Supplied)

Pikihuia, who is also a clinical psychologist, says Māori experience disproportionate levels of mental health due to a range of factors, so there’s a higher need.

But only 6% of New Zealand registered psychologists are Māori, she says, which doesn’t reflect the 2023 census, which shows Māori now make up around 20% of the population.

“Even if our population has gone up, there’s obviously some systemic barriers there that are in the way of more Māori clinical psychologists entering the workforce.”

Those barriers, she says, include racism, the lack of Indigenous psychology knowledge in psychology courses, and the financial barrier to studying and training as a psychologist, which could take at least seven years.

“Something quite central to our being as people is that our indigenous knowledge is central, and it’s not [about] excluding Western clinical knowledge. 

“But what we have right now is the majority of the knowledge that is there doesn’t reflect Māori, so people can’t see themselves when they’re coming through.”

Addressing racism ‘should be everyone’s priority’

Pikihuia emphasises the need for non-Māori to take responsibility for addressing and ending racism, and that it should be everyone’s priority.

“Currently, Māori are often left with the responsibility to train our colleagues on the impact of racism and there needs to be more effort and responsibility to address racism by Pākehā.

“That is a lot of additional labour, it is tiring,” she adds. 

The report reflects her sentiments, as it found Māori were more likely (78%) to experience cultural labour.

Overall, 67% of Māori, Pacific and Asian participants received implicit or explicit demands placed on them during training to educate others about their culture.

University of Auckland psychology senior lecturer Sam Manuela (Cook Islander) says Pacific psychologists make up less than 2% of the registered psychologists in New Zealand.

According to the 2023 census, Pacific people make up nearly 9% of the population.

Sam Manuela (Cook Islander) is a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Auckland. (Photo: Supplied)

He says the workforce should ideally reflect our population because it is one way to ensure a good representation of people from different cultural backgrounds.

He says having more diverse educators means they can speak to the issue themselves, but it’s also important to remember a single person can’t be an expert in their culture.

“It’s a collective effort to support everyone.”

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