| Abstract: | What has happened to psychology in Canadian universities in the past few years is indeed startling. It has been caught up in a wave of popularity, or public trust, which has produced disproportionately large increases in enrolments in psychology everywhere. Psychology departments now typically carry the largest or one of the largest undergraduate teaching loads, and most have also developed graduate programs. Since 1960, the number of Canadian graduate departments of psychology has more than doubled. By 1966 and 1967 psychology was, of all the traditional academic disciplines, the third largest producer of Canadian PhD's. The rapid increase in the number of faculty required to teach so many students has made it possible for departments to develop along a number of lines. The developments in the universities are only one small part of the story of Canadian psychology in the 1960's, but they are particularly significant because of the promise they hold for the discipline in the years ahead. During the present decade improvements in the state of psychology in this nation have been in every respect spectacular. Canadian psychology has come of age. The evidence is all around us. The question now before us is, will this discipline move forward with confidence into maturity? Will it accept full responsibility for itself? Will it control its own destiny? I believe that it can and that it will. The future holds out much promise if we shape it to our advantage. Opportunities to determine our fate are being presented to us now if we will only seize them. The Canadian Psychological Association is the organization which can provide the fulcrum for the efforts that are required. Hence, we must make it the strong representative organization it should be. There are many problems to overcome if we are to do this, but nothing is impossible if we keep our real goals in sight. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
