Undergraduate Psychology Students’ Knowledge and Exposure to School Psychology: Suggestions for Diversifying the Field

Abstract

Trainers within school psychology have struggled to recruit racial/ethnic minority graduate students, with a recent demographic survey suggesting that racial/ethnic minorities comprise 9.3 % of school-based practitioners (Curtis, Castillo, & Gelley, 2012). Furthermore, research has suggested that school psychology training programs have also lagged behind counseling and clinical psychology in the recruitment of minority students (Fiegener, 2009). In the current study, 782 junior and senior undergraduate psychology students, representing the four regions of the USA, were included in an online study. Students’ knowledge and exposure were compared across school, counseling, and clinical psychology. Students’ intentions for applying to a school psychology program were also assessed. Results suggest that students have less knowledge and exposure to school psychology compared to counseling or clinical psychology and that students with greater knowledge or exposure for school psychology have stronger intentions of applying to a school psychology graduate program. No significant difference was found between minority and non-minority students’ knowledge or exposure to school psychology. Implications for minority and non-minority recruitment are discussed.