Experiences of Prejudice, Role Difficulties, and Counseling Self-Efficacy Among U.S. Racial and Ethnic Minority Supervisees Working With White Supervisors

Managing hindering self-focused attention in counseling sessions

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the moderation effects of management strategies on the association between hindering self-focused attention and counseling self-efficacy.

METHOD

Participants were 160 counselor trainees. A hierarchical regression was used to analyze the data, and a simple effect analysis was used to explore the nature of the interaction.

RESULTS

Results indicated that, for trainees who used more basic counseling techniques, counseling self-efficacy remained the same no matter their hindering self-focused attention experiences. However, for those who used less basic counseling techniques, their counseling self-efficacy dropped when they had more experiences of hindering self-focused attention. Similarly, for trainees who used more self-awareness to understand clients, these trainees reported a similar level of counseling self-efficacy no matter their hindering self-focused attention experiences. Conversely, for those who used less self-awareness as a tool to understand their clients during their sessions, their counseling self-efficacy decreased when they had more experiences of hindering self-focused attention.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study that extends the literature on direct, linear relationships between hindering self-focused attention and counseling self-efficacy. Results suggested two strategies (i.e., use of basic counseling techniques and use of self-awareness to understand clients) significantly moderate the above association.

Asian Indian College Students’ Science and Math Preferences: Influences of Cultural Contexts

Cultural, immigrant, and prejudicial contexts influence minority students’ preferences for college majors and their subsequent career development. Participants were Asian Indian immigrant college students as well as their parents. The early first-generation and late first-generation students were similar to each other in their major preferences; however, both groups had significantly greater preferences for science and math majors than the second-generation students. Parents’ perceived prejudice and preferences for science and math contributed significantly to their second-generation children’s preferences for science and math. Even though second-generation children preferred nonscience majors more than their first-generation parents, the majority reported that their actual majors were in science and math.