Publication Date

2019

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Fickling, Melissa J.

Second Advisor

Fisher, Teresa A.

Degree Name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Legacy Department

Department of Counseling and Higher Education (CAHE)

Abstract

Research on multicultural competency development has been a topic of interest in the counseling field over the past 20 years. However, studies in counselor education examining the relationship between learning experiences, multicultural competency, and self-efficacy have been scarce. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to fill this research gap by investigating the relationships among transformative learning experiences, multicultural competency, and multicultural self-efficacy of counselors-in-training. Another purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between participants’ demographic characteristics and their multicultural competency and multicultural self-efficacy. Participants included 107 master’s-level students in various counseling programs throughout the U.S. who had completed or were currently enrolled in a course in multicultural counseling and who had not yet begun practicum.

The researcher administered three online surveys to participants for data collection: Kim, Cartwright, and Asay’s 2003 Multicultural Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills Survey–Counselor Edition–Revised (MAKSS–CE–R), a modified version of Holcomb-McCoy, Harris, Hines, and Johnston’s 2008 School Counselors’ Multicultural Self-Efficacy Scale (SCMSE), and a modified, shorter version of Stuckey, Taylor, and Cranton’s 2013 Transformative Learning Survey (TLS). Additionally, open-ended questions were used in this study for both quantitative data collection and qualitative analysis. The independent variables were transformative learning processes and transformative learning outcomes, while the dependent variables were multicultural competency and multicultural self-efficacy. A series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses and a content analysis of open-ended responses were used to determine relationships among variables.

Results showed a statistically significant relationship between race and transformative learning subscales predicting multicultural competence and multicultural self-efficacy. A statistically significant relationship was also found between number of multicultural courses taken and multicultural competence in counselors-in-training. Implications of these findings for counselor educators, and suggestions for further research in this area are provided.

Extent

244 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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