Challenging the West as the standard: Students’ views on cultural representation in the UK mental health curriculum

Previous research has demonstrated that students perceive teaching on undergraduate psychology curricula as over-representative of White and Western ideas while under-representing other cultural groups. Given that culture influences mental health causes, experiences and treatments, the current study explored students’ views on cultural representation in the mental health curriculum specifically. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 undergraduate psychology students who identified as coming from a ‘non-majority’ cultural background. Through reflexive thematic analysis, two themes were developed: (1) I don’t see myself in the curriculum; and (2) cultural gaps in the curriculum. The analysis suggests that the psychology curriculum, and psychology as a wider discipline, frames Western understandings of mental health as universal, leading to students doubting their belonging in psychology and the West. However, they challenged the Western standard by outlining how social, political and religious views and experiences, as well as stigmatised attitudes, contextualised understandings of mental health issues. This study contributes uniquely to decolonising the psychology curriculum literature by providing recommendations for improving mental health teaching.