Entering the Ivory Tower

Although counseling psychologists have a long history of studying their own professional development, no data exist describing the characteristics of successful academic job applicants. This study describes the demographic and scholarly characteristics of 27 recently hired faculty members in counseling psychology programs, and the nature of the positions that they filled. Consistent with expectations, our results indicate that research productivity is a function of academic rank. Our data also indicate that recent Ph.D. graduates are applying for academic positions with an established history of publications and professional presentations. Almost half of all available faculty positions identified in this study were the result of faculty retirements. Other characteristics of successful academic hires and the positions that they filled are discussed.

Current Institutional Trends in Research Productivity in Counseling Psychology Journals

This study investigated institutional publication activity in counseling psychology journals for the 10-year period from 1993 to 2002. Four journals reported by counseling psychology training directors as prime publication outlets for the field of counseling psychology were used: Journal of Counseling Psychology, The Counseling Psychologist, Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Journal of Counseling and Development. Comparisons with the most recent previous ranking study revealed that institutions in the top 20 remainedfairly stable. However, 13 of the top 40 institutions ranked in this study were not ranked in the previous top 40. Implications for the field are discussed, and suggestions for how to improve publication activity trend analyses are made.