Faculty of Color Mentorship Experiences in Counselor Education

• Main Author: Oller, Marianna L
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2020
• Subjects: Accreditation; African Americans; Agreements; Audit trails; Career advancement; Consultants; Counseling; Counseling Psychology; Counselor education; Culture; Data analysis; Education; Educational administration; Educational leadership; Ethnic studies; Hispanic Americans; Informed consent; Mental health; Mentors; Minority & ethnic groups; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Native North Americans; Perceptions; Personal development; Professional development; Qualitative research; Race; Research methodology; Social justice; Teachers
• ISBN: 9798516991974

Professional counseling associations and ethical accrediting bodies mandate that counseling programs, counselor educators, and leaders in the counseling field uphold a commitment to the recruitment, employment, and retention of ethnically and culturally diverse faculty. Despite written standards and growth in the profession, faculty of color in counselor education programs continue to be significantly underrepresented at the assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor ranks. Additionally, the overall percentage of faculty of color decreases as academic rank increases, which suggests issues related to retention and promotion. Mentorship has been recommended as an important and necessary strategy to retain and promote historically marginalized people. However, little is known about how mentoring is used as a retention strategy for faculty of color in counselor education. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perspectives of faculty of color in counselor education programs accredited by CACREP, and their perception of mentorship, retention, and promotion. The primary researcher utilized a social constructivism paradigm, transcendental phenomenological approach, and responsive interviewing approach to semi-structured interviews. Fifteen participants employed at CACREP-accredited universities across the U.S. participated in this study. Four major themes were identified: perception of cultural climate, structural elements of mentorship, perceptions of mentorship experiences, and protective strategies to navigating academe. Implications for counselor education programs and future mentorship models along with recommendations for future research are provided.