| In general, doctoral programs in counselor education and supervision (CES) have low minority enrollments. Faculty members in clinical mental health counseling (CMHC) master's degree in science (MS) programs primarily come from CES doctoral programs; therefore, faculty members do not generally reflect the diversity of the MS student population. Using the theory of planned behavior and the bioecological model, the purpose of this research was to determine the extent to which age, gender, faculty support, income, level of parents' or primary caregivers' education, and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accreditation status predict White and racial minority MS students' decisions to pursue CES doctoral studies and to see if there were differences between the factors for White and minority students. A demographic questionnaire and the Perceived Faculty Support Scale were used to measure the variables through multiple regression, Spearman rho, t tests, chi square, and the Mann Whitney U analyses. No variables were significantly predictive for either student groups. Because there were no significant differences between White and minority MS students choosing CES programs, an approach to increase the number of minority faculty members in CMCHC MS programs as a way of promoting positive social change might be for program administrators and faculty to recruit more minority students into MS programs in order to expand the pool of potential CES students. An additional recommendation is for current CES faculty to encourage more minority students who do choose CES doctoral programs to pursue faculty positions after graduation. |
