All trainees deserve access to high-quality culturally responsive supervision – clinical or research guidance that affirms and accounts for cultural factors – as a matter of respect. But culturally responsive supervision is also essential to creating a productive learning environment that models thoughtful engagement with diverse populations. That’s why DPHB has concentrated recent efforts on improving culturally responsive supervision. Now, with new data from trainee and faculty surveys, the department is laying a plan for future directions. 

DPHB Efforts to this Point

Over the past several years, the department has made culturally responsive supervision an explicit focus of its training programs. DPHB has invested in four department-wide trainings led by consultation group FACE Race that have engaged hundreds of faculty on topics ranging from microaggressions to racial identity theory to culturally responsive supervision. Other opportunities have emerged through grassroots efforts. In the DPHB Child Division, for example, faculty members have developed and offered regular, multi-week learning groups for clinical supervisors that focus on strategies for navigating cultural, racial, and identity issues in supervision.

Concurrent to this work on supervision, DPHB and Brown BioMed have enacted two new department-wide policies to establish faculty baselines in DEI competency. In 2022, DPHB instituted a DEI training requirement that requires all faculty to participate in two hours of DEI training per year, including at least one hour of anti-racist training. This July, Brown BioMed adopted a DEI commitment criterion requiring faculty to demonstrate a commitment to DEI for appointment, reappointment, and promotion.

In the event of inappropriate faculty behavior, DPHB also implemented a department-wide grievance policy in July 2023 to provide trainees with a clear pathway to report issues such as discrimination, harassment, or unprofessional behavior on the part of faculty. 

Building on these efforts, DPHB has turned to the task of assessing how culturally responsive supervision is or is not practiced across the department. In the spring of last year, the Anti-Racism Steering Committee (ARSC) coordinated the administration of two surveys on culturally responsive supervision – a faculty survey (developed by Natalia Villa Hernandez, a postdoctoral fellow at the time) and a trainee survey (developed by the ARSC Faculty Policies working group) – to understand gaps and inform future programming.

Survey Results

The surveys, disseminated by email and the Weekly@DPHB newsletter in March-June 2023, generated approximately a 33% response rate. Of approximately 500 clinical and research DPHB faculty, 152 responded to the survey, and of approximately 150 DPHB trainees (including psychology residents and postdocs, psychiatry residents and fellows), 50 responded. Among trainee respondents, one-third self-identified as from an underrepresented race or ethnicity. The surveys' quantitative and qualitative data can be found below. (Quantitative data are reported as descriptive findings only; they have not been statistically analyzed.)

Here are key takeaways that emerged from the dual perspectives of supervisors and supervisees:

• Supervisors have some training, but would benefit from more. Most faculty (85%) reported some degree of training, but a majority (56%) also felt only “a little” prepared for culturally responsive supervision.
• Fear is a barrier to communication. Faculty commonly reported fear (of mis-steps, for example) around culturally responsive supervision. Trainees identified supervisors’ discomfort as a barrier to their engagement.
• Trainees from underrepresented backgrounds experience less openness from their supervisors than do their peers. Most trainees (68%) reported feeling able to talk to their supervisors about issues of race, ethnicity, or culture. However, many trainees from underrepresented backgrounds felt they could openly discuss these issues with only a small fraction of their supervisors. For example, 65% of underrepresented trainees reported that only a quarter or fewer of their supervisors initiated these discussions (as opposed to 30% of trainees overall who reported so small a fraction).
• Trainees want supervisors to be open, supportive, and proactive. In particular, trainees are looking to supervisors to initiate discussions on difficult topics and to lead by example.

Follow-Up Actions

In response to the survey results, the department is undertaking both immediate action items and long-term policy change.

Immediate Actions: 

• Tailored, longitudinal training for supervisors. While DPHB has previously offered individual workshops, the department is now investing in a more intensive training experience to develop deeper in-house expertise in culturally responsive supervision. This fall, FACE Race will lead a pilot six-week series of structured dialogues for approximately 20 key supervisors nominated for participation by their training directors. (These supervisors train others in supervision, oversee other supervisors, or have helped develop DEI initiatives.) Their training will be designed to speak to specific issues raised by both faculty and trainees in the surveys.
• Guidebook for supervisors and supervisees. Clinical Instructor Natalia Villa Hernandez, Psy.D., has created a guidebook that leads supervisors and supervisees in dialogues on cultural issues in supervision. The guidebook includes reflective exercises, case examples, and self-assessments designed to increase competence and comfort in engaging in culturally responsive supervision.
• Recommendation sheet for supervisors. Faculty reported time pressures as a challenge to improved supervision. Accordingly, the ARSC Faculty Policies working group has created a tip sheet that can serve as a quick reference to practices that promote culturally responsive supervision.

Long-Term Change:

• New recommendations. The ARSC Faculty Policies working group is drafting recommendations that focus on structural- and individual-level actions to improve culturally responsive supervision. They address such areas as the trainee-supervisor evaluation process, support spaces for both groups, and funding for improved supervision. These recommendations will be informed by the culturally responsive supervision survey data, discussion with ARSC and its working groups, and feedback from training program directors and coordinators. 
• Community input. In the coming months, ARSC representatives will visit faculty and trainee meetings to share survey findings and gather input on the recommendations. 
• Implementation. Based on that feedback, the ARSC will prioritize recommended actions and charge the appropriate working groups (or newly created task forces) with carrying them out.

Culture change can be a gradual – but successful – process if met with persistent effort and evaluation. DPHB plans to conduct regular faculty and trainee surveys to continue to measure our progress in culturally responsive supervision with the aim of continuous improvement. In the interim, the department will provide regular action updates in this area.

Thank you to everyone for your participation in these surveys and for taking part in the larger project of making DPHB a supportive place for all faculty and trainees alike. If you would like to get involved in ongoing efforts to improve culturally responsive supervision, please consider joining a work group. Alternatively, if you have any thoughts or questions to share, please feel free to provide feedback to the ARSC.