Florida superintendents have been advised by the state’s education agency to nix their Advanced Placement Psychology classes unless they exclude any topics related to gender or sexuality, according to a press release from The College Board.
Such a shift would mean the courses couldn’t be called Advanced Placement, however, or used by students to earn college credit, the College Board said.
“We are sad to have learned that today the Florida Department of Education has effectively banned AP Psychology in the state by instructing Florida superintendents that teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal under state law,” the statement reads. “The state has said districts are free to teach AP Psychology only if it excludes any mention of these essential topics.”
In June, the College Board said they would not alter its popular AP Psychology class after the state asked the organization to review all AP courses to see if they “need modification to ensure compliance” with a Florida law and state Board of Education rule targeting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity.
An AP psych course 20 years ago is how I figured out what I want to do for a living. That’s super depressing because until that point I didn’t know you could do brain research as a career.
How does one go about getting into that field?
Step 1) Don’t live in Florida
Most straightforward would be getting BS in psychology, neuroscience, or biology, then PhD in psychology/neuroscience programs or MD/PhD. The exact field varies quite a bit, you can have a background in engineering or mathematics as well. MD/PhD gives you more options in clinical research, regular PhD gives you more laboratory experience but you can always get involved in clinical research. I don’t have an MD but I can still collect tissue or do assessments on patients for research in coordination with MDs