Date of Award
12-1999
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Mary Z. Anderson
Second Advisor
Dr. Robert L. Betz
Third Advisor
Dr. Gunilla Holm
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Donna M. Talbot
Abstract
There has been a call in the multicultural supervision literature to enhance the understanding of minority students’ unique training needs and develop appropriate theories and models of training for these students (Leong & Wagner, 1994; McNeill, Horn, & Perez, 1995). Although a few researchers have empirically examined differences between U.S. majority and minority students in multicultural supervision (Cook & Helms, 1988; Vander Kolk, 1974), virtually no empirical studies have been published on international students’ training experiences.
The main purpose of the present study was to advance knowledge regarding the training needs of international students in APA-accredited programs in psychology. It was expected that due to issues associated with acculturation, international students’ counseling self-efficacy and role difficulties in supervision would differ from U.S. students. The impact of multicultural supervision on these variables was also investigated. A secondary purpose of the study was to examine whether the present findings supported theory and previously obtained results on counseling self-efficacy and acculturation. Multivariate analyses of variance, hierarchical regression, and trend analyses were some of the statistical methods employed to answer these questions.
One hundred and fifty-one training directors at APA-accredited programs and internship sites distributed surveys to doctoral students in their programs or sites. Three hundred and twenty-one students completed surveys, resulting in a response rate of 57%. Of the students, 83% identified as U.S. citizens, 14% as international students, and 3% as permanent residents.
The results demonstrated that international students differed from U.S. students in that they reported less counseling self-efficacy than U.S. majority students and less Role Ambiguity than U.S. minority students. Acculturation had an impact on international students’ training experiences; students who were more acculturated reported more counseling self-efficacy and less role difficulties. Furthermore, a good supervisory working alliance was positively associated with international students’ counseling self-efficacy and negatively associated with their role difficulties, whereas multicultural supervision, that included a discussion of issues unique to international students, did not have an impact on these variables. Finally, the present results also provided some support for previous findings on counseling self-efficacy and acculturation, but not for the theory of biculturalism.
Access Setting
Dissertation-Open Access
Recommended Citation
Nilsson, Johanna E., "A Comparison of International and U.S. Students in APA-Accredited Programs: Acculturation, Counseling Self-Efficacy and Role Difficulties in Supervision" (1999). Dissertations. 1524.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/1524