An Exploratory Study of New Doctoral Student Orientations in Counselor Education Programs

• In Event: Student Experiences in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education

Abstract

Students’ initial entry to graduate programs is widely understood to be a stage with potential barriers to success that could, potentially, lead to attrition. Therefore, counselor education (CE) has embraced the importance of orienting students early on in students’ programs, as a means to prevent issues common amongst newly enrolled students. Counseling literature, however, has not consistently investigated the content and quality of program orientations in relation to their ability to meet students’ needs. Despite the challenges new students encounter in the early stages of transition to doctoral education, understanding of student orientations and students’ perceptions of them is largely absent in the counseling profession. This study explored aspects of CE doctoral student orientations and students’ perceptions of the orientations.

Authors

• Hongryun Woo, University of Louisville

• Malik S. Henfield, University of San Francisco

• Na Mi Bang, The University of Iowa