Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Counselor Education and Supervision

Committee Chair

Stephen Zanskas

Committee Member

Pamela Cogdal

Committee Member

Taneshia Greenidge

Committee Member

Patrick Murphy

Abstract

In counseling education, one learns the unique ability to help people from all walks of life with a never-ending list of human endeavors. This dissertation explored the lived experiences of counselor educators in training and how their privileged and/or marginalized social identities impacted their professional identity. Though this dissertation explored all social identities, the primary focus was race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The importance of looking at all aspects of a person and how experiences with privilege and marginalization impact a person, including their professional identity, is explained in the literature review as well as the need for more research regarding addressing privilege and marginalization in counseling A phenomenological qualitative method was employed to grasp the phenomenon of counselor educators’ professional identity development and the undeniable impact of experience with privilege and marginalization. This research was developed and analyzed through a constructivist lens, specifically using a Constructivist lens with Critical Race Theory and an Intersectionality Framework to ensure all elements of the participants’ stories are considered. Lived experiences of participants were gathered via virtual semi-structured interviews. Ten counselor educators in training were interviewed. All participants were enrolled in a CACREP-accredited doctoral program and had at least one of the following experiences; as a teaching assistant (TA), the instructor of record for a graduate-level course, or who had taken the CACREP-required teaching course. From the results emerged four themes (1) awareness of privilege and marginalization, (2) the role of intersectionality, (3) professional identity development, and (4) privilege and marginalization as a motivator. The findings of this research study align with current research regarding the importance of privilege awareness among counselors and counselor educators, the need for specific instruction among masters and doctoral students about the impact of privilege and marginalization, and the stages of professional identity development as a counselor educator. Specifically, experiential and collaborative learning was found by participants to be the most effective.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

Notes

Open Access

Download

Share

COinS