Improving the recruitment and retention of Native American students in psychology

This article establishes the need for more Native American psychologists and describes practical methods for universities to use to recruit, retain, and graduate more Native American students. Reasons for the underrepresentation of such students in psychology training programs include differences in world view, demographic and geographic factors, and the lack of adequate marketing to members of this population. Recruitment and retention efforts can be improved in many ways, including increasing financial aid, using advertising, personal faculty outreach, and establishing Native American resource centers on campus. Such efforts address the need to increase the number of Native American psychologists in the future.