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As our nation faces a critical shortage of school psychologists, a ������ý���� professor is working to address the challenge.

Dr. Karen Gischlar, an instructor in ������ý����’s school psychology program, recently wrote an article published in the academic journal Contemporary School Psychology.

In “,” she discusses how the shortage arose, the adverse effects of not having enough school psychologists and possible steps to rectify the situation.

“Given that school psychologists are trained to provide services that support student academic, behavioral and social development; engage in consultation with teachers and families; and, develop and evaluate programs, it is crucial to study the factors that attract undergraduate students to and deter them from entering the field,” she says.

This insufficient supply of practitioners can have detrimental effects, including reduced services for students, teachers and families. It can also lead to the hiring of unqualified personnel to perform those services in the absence of credentialed school psychologists.

Compounding the issue, Gischlar notes that racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse practitioners are underrepresented in the field, despite the growing diversity among students. According to Gischlar, approximately 49% of public school students identify as racial and/or ethnic minorities, and 20% report speaking a language other than English at home. In comparison, only 13% of school psychologists identify as minorities. 

“It is vital to attract diverse students to the field of school psychology, as they might bring differing perspectives and knowledge to the field that would be beneficial to the increasing numbers of children entering our nation’s schools in need of culturally competent services,” Gischlar writes in the article. 

To gain a better understanding of why more young people aren’t choosing the school psychology profession, Gischlar surveyed 617 undergraduate psychology majors regarding their preferences for graduate studies and eventual career paths. She also looked for notable differences among ethnic groups and genders in their responses.

Her analysis revealed that the most significant factor in determining whether these students would choose to pursue school psychology was exposure to the field during their undergraduate experience.

Gischlar says this exposure can take many forms, including guest lectures, shadowing on the job, undergraduate internships and mentoring relationships between undergraduate and school psychology graduate students.

Based on these findings, Gischlar offers a number of recommendations to attract more undergraduates.

“One easy task that we can undertake is to expose undergraduate students to the field of school psychology early in their college years,” she says. “Studies have demonstrated that many undergraduates are unaware of school psychology as a career option and that exposure matters.” 

She also suggests future studies should more closely investigate factors, such as academic achievement and motivation, that best predict which students are most likely to show interest in school psychology, so that faculty can begin to counsel and build relationships with these students.

“Research suggests that exposure must be personalized and sustained,” Gischlar says. “Students who have a mentor and/or adviser in the field of school psychology and who have multiple interactions with content regarding the role tend to give a career in the field more consideration than those students who might have read a page in a textbook about the field.”

Other steps include conducting more research into the quantity and quality of exposure to determine the most effective means for informing students about the field, as well as placing a greater focus on disseminating practical information about graduate programs to undergraduate students, such as costs of tuition and housing.

Looking ahead, Gischlar hopes to examine the effects of school psychology programs removing the GRE from their admission requirements due the test’s inherent bias against certain groups. 

“As a follow-up study, I plan to survey school psychology faculty about the impact of this decision on their programs,” she says. “For example, have programs witnessed an increased number of applications, especially from minority students since waiving the GRE requirement? Have programs found another measure to use for screening applicants?”