Institutional Logics and the High School Counselor: An Investigation of Time, Attention, and Advice

• In Event: 523 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 17. Educational Programs, Educational Reforms, and Student Research: Session II

Abstract

One of the most promising routes to reducing racial/ethnic and income inequality in college enrollment is to investigate the influence of high school counselors in this process. Unfortunately, counselors are routinely overburdened by high student-to-counselor ratios and administrative tasks, and inadequately trained in college counseling, reducing their effectiveness. Drawing upon the emerging literature on high school counselors, this dissertation will examine how conflicting guidelines for counselor behavior impact the following: how counselors allocate their time to college counseling, the degree to which they pay attention to student needs, and how they advise their students about college. This research will illustrate how the organizations that influence counselor work – graduate programs and high schools – shape counselors’ abilities to attend to and advise students about college enrollment. Most importantly, it will demonstrate the impact of counselors on student college-going behaviors, and whether this impact varies by race or income.

Utilizing a comprehensive, multiple-method approach, interviews with counselors, students, and key school and district administrators will be conducted and embedded with student surveys and extensive observations of counselors and counselor-student interactions. In-school data collection will be supplemented with interviews from local and national counseling graduate faculty and counselors. Together, these multiple data sources combine to create an uncommon and systematic look into the role of counselors in public, urban high schools and the potential impact they could have on the likelihood of college enrollment and subsequent degree attainment of minority and low-income students.

Author

• Mary Kate Blake, University of Notre Dame