Self-ratings of Multicultural Competency by Consulting School Psychologists

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how consulting school psychologists rate themselves with regard to being multiculturally competent. Using a non-experimental, causal-comparative research design this study consisted of a survey of 131 consulting school psychologists across the United States and how they rate their multicultural competencies using the Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI). Participants of the study rated themselves as being multiculturally competent in the areas of multicultural awareness, multicultural knowledge, and multicultural skills. However, they reported some challenges in the area of multicultural relationships. The majority of the respondents were of European/European American descent (88%) and they reported that they had limited opportunity to work with minority students. The implications of this study suggest that not only is recruitment and retention of minority students in graduate programs necessary but it is also necessary for graduate students to have practical experiences working with minority students and interacting with minority peers to help improve multicultural competence, specifically, multicultural relationships. Additionally, on-going training in the area of multicultural competency needs to the focus of practicing school psychologists regardless of gender or age.