Racial/Ethnic Minority Undergraduate Psychology Majors’ Perceptions About School Psychology: Implications for Minority Recruitment

Racial and ethnic minorities are underrepresented within school psychology. Increased racial/ethnic diversity within university training programs has been shown to reduce prejudices and anxiety within students while increasing empathy for other racial/ethnic groups. The reduction of prejudices and anxiety and increased empathy for racial/ethnic minorities could prove critical when working with minorities. In this study, an analysis was conducted on national data from 282 minority undergraduate psychology students. Students’ knowledge, exposure, outcome expectation, and self-efficacy regarding school psychology were examined. All scales were found to have good internal consistency (i.e., α = 0.83 to 0.95). The purpose of this study is to help bridge the research to practice gap by identifying strategies that could help better recruit racial/ethnic minority students into school psychology programs. The findings from this analysis suggest that to increase the number of minority students entering school psychology, stakeholders should (a) improve students’ exposure to school psychology as early as K-12, (b) provide additional knowledge to targeted students about the benefits of a career in school psychology, and (c) present school psychology as an exciting career. Practical recommendations for the creation and implementation of diversity recruitment tools and strategies are provided.