Undergraduate Psychology Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review

In recent years, scholars and educators have emphasized the importance of equipping psychology students in higher education with the ability to apply psychological principles to personal, societal, and professional issues. There have also been efforts to define and assess psychology graduate attributes, seeking consensus across degree programs. “Psychological literacy” is the dominant framework of graduate attributes in psychology. However, the vast majority of scholarly literature has been conducted in the UK, US, and Australia. There have been recent calls to consider how psychological literacy, and psychology undergraduate outcomes more broadly, are conceptualized in other countries, especially in the global majority. This scoping review aimed to understand how psychology undergraduate outcomes are conceptualized in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our scoping review identified 34 articles across countries such as Argentina, South Africa, Indonesia, and Brazil, which discuss psychology undergraduate outcomes relative to their local context. We identified nine broad psychology outcomes across this literature, including the ability to work interdisciplinarily, engage with ethics, psychology knowledge, communication skills, and social commitment. The findings are intended to inform policymakers, educators, and practitioners on how to better align psychology education with local needs and global standards.