Implementing a Conservative Strategy in Law-Induced Changes in BA Psychology Programs in Italy.

The procedure to become a professional psychologist in Italy have been modified in 2021 as a consequence of (a) the progressive enclosure of psychology in the health sector and (b) the Covid-19 pandemic that required a fast increase of the number of health professionals entering the job market. Departments started offering the first year of the new degree in the academic year 2023/24. Of the several changes brought about by the new law, we will mainly focus on the supervised practice: The former one-year post-degree supervised practice (1000-hour long) was eliminated and substituted by the Tirocinio Pratico-Valutativo (TPV; Practical-Evaluative Placement), a 750-hour supervised placement subdivided in the MA (20 Credits, 500 hours) and the BA (10 CFU, 250 hours) curricula. Our research question was twofold. Did the Departments offering a psychology degree change the overall organization of the program to adapt to the new law? Did they change the expected learning outcome and the associated teaching practice? We selected 15 Italian public universities (5 from the North. 5 from the Center, and 5 from the South) and compared the BA psychology curricula in the pre-reform academic year 2019/2020 and the post-reform academic year 2025/2026 checking for changes related to the introduction of TPV. The results show very little difference between the programs before and after the legislative changes as most of the program transformed the pre-existing practical training into the new PTV. The learning outcomes also were only slightly affected. It seems that Universities applied a conservative-strategy approach. Strengths and shortcomings of this approach will be discussed.