Why (Not) School Psychology?: a Survey of Undergraduate Psychology Majors’ Preferences

Abstract

As the field of school psychology has expanded, the workforce has not, resulting in critical shortages at both the trainer and practitioner levels. Additionally, practitioners who are racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse are underrepresented in the field, despite the growing diversity of our nation's schools. The purpose of this paper was to survey undergraduate psychology majors regarding their preferences for graduate studies and eventual career paths, and to examine the variables that might influence the decision to pursue a degree in school psychology. Findings suggested that exposure to the field in undergraduate studies was the only significant variable in predicting level of interest in pursuing graduate study in school psychology, which is similar to previous research. However, there were differences found by gender and ethnicity that might be informative for recruitment of students to the field.

Introduction to Critical Training Topics Series II: Meeting the Diverse Needs of a Changing Nation

“…Furthermore, scholars have called for further research into this topic (Bocanegra et al, 2019). Gischlar (2021, in this issue) surveyed undergraduate psychology majors' preferences and found that students with increased exposure to school psychology within their undergraduate coursework reported greater interests in pursuing school psychology. The authors also found differences by racial and ethnic minoritized identity for the exposure variable but not for interest.…”