Investigating school counselors' perceived multicultural competence.

This study examined the perceived multicultural counseling competence of 209 professional school counselors by using the Multicultural Counseling Competence and Training Survey--Revised (MCCTS-R; Holcomb-McCoy & Myers, 1999). Participants reported that they are at least somewhat competent on all of the multicultural competence domains of the MCCTS-R. In addition, the findings of this study suggested that participants" perceived multicultural counseling competence on the multicultural knowledge and terminology domains differed significantly based on whether they had taken an entry-level multicultural course.

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Many variables concerning the multicultural counseling competence of professional counselors have been debated and discussed throughout the recent history of the counseling profession. Discussions related to the multicultural competence of professional counselors have included the development of multicultural competencies (e.g., Arredondo et al., 1996; Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992), the content of multicultural counseling courses (e.g., D'Andrea & Daniels, 1991; Howard-Hamilton & Williams, 1993), the effect of multicultural training on trainees' multicultural competence (e.g., Allison, Crawford, Echemendia, Robinson, & Knepp, 1994; McRae & Johnson, 1991), and trainee characteristics that affect their level of multicultural counseling competence (e.g., Carter, 1990; Ottavi, Pope-Davis, & Dings, 1994).

In the general counseling literature, multicultural counseling competence has been described as having three domains: awareness, knowledge, and skills (Sue et al., 1982; 1998). The first domain, awareness, stresses a counselor's understanding of personal beliefs and attitudes and how counselors are the products of their own cultural conditioning. The second domain, knowledge, addresses the counselor's understanding of the worldviews of culturally different clients. And finally, the skill domain deals with the process of actively developing and practicing appropriate intervention strategies needed for work with culturally different clients. Coleman, Wampold, and Casali (1995) further asserted that multicultural counseling competence is one's ability to demonstrate to clients that their world, not just their psychological self, is understood. Other perspectives regarding multicultural counseling competence have included understanding the history, current needs, strengths, and resources of individuals (Pope-Davis, Reynolds, Dings, & Ottavi, 1994), and one's ability to acquire, develop, and use an accurate cultural schema (Ridley et al., 1994).

In addition to exploring the domains of multicultural counseling competence, counseling researchers also have examined variables or factors that might be related to one's acquisition of multicultural counseling competence. For instance, Ottavi et al. (1994) found that counselor trainees' White racial identity development, educational level, and clinical experiences correlated moderately with multicultural competence. Constantine (2002) found that racism attitudes and White racial identity attitudes together contributed to significant variance in self-perceived multicultural counseling competence. In particular, higher levels of racism were correlated with lower levels of self-reported multicultural counseling competence.

Gender also has been cited as a factor in an individual's level of multicultural counseling competence. For instance, Carter (1990) found that women were more comfortable with racial interactions and issues than were men. In a similar study, Pope-Davis and Ottavi (1994) reported that older students experienced greater discomfort with racial interactions and issues than did younger students. Finally, Sodowsky, Taffe, and Gutkin (1991) found that the amount of multicultural client contact was related to higher levels of self-reported multicultural competence for practicing counseling professionals. Recently, Holcomb-McCoy and Myers (1999) found that professional counselors who had taken a multicultural counseling course in their entry-level training perceived themselves to be more competent on multicultural knowledge than professional counselors who had not taken a multicultural course. Interestingly, there has been no research on the effect of counseling experience (i.e., years of counseling experience) or work setting (e.g., school vs. community agency; elementary school vs. high school) on a counselor's perceived multicultural competence. Clearly, one's experience in the counseling field or work setting could be related to one's perceived and actual multicultural counseling competence.

Considering the increasingly diverse composition of school populations, this notion of multicultural counseling competence is particularly critical to school counseling professionals. As such, increased attention has been paid to multicultural counseling in school counselor education programs (e.g., Carey, Reinat, & Fontes, 1990; Lee, 1995; Lewis & Hayes, 1991), and school counselors' multicultural counseling competence has been linked to self-construals or self-perceptions (Constantine & Yeh, 2001), student advocacy (Lee, 2001), and multicultural training (Holcomb-McCoy, 2001). The American School Counselor Association (ASCA; 1999) even has included the importance of school counselors' cultural knowledge and awareness in its position statement entitled "The Professional School Counselor and Cross/Multicultural Counseling." More specifically, the statement reads, "Professional school counselors have the responsibility ... to increase awareness and understanding of culturally diverse persons and populations and to enhance the total school and community environment and climate."

PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY

Despite the increased attention paid to the preparation of multiculturally competent school counselors, there is a paucity of information regarding the multicultural competence of existing professional school counselors. Therefore, this study's primary goal was to focus on school counselors' perceptions of their own multicultural counseling competence. It is important to note that the author believes this is a first step in the process of examining school counselors' actual multicultural competence. In addition, this study was implemented in order to examine differences in perceived multicultural counseling competence across school counselor characteristics (e.g., gender, years of experience, work setting, coursework in multicultural counseling). There is limited information on the relationship between school counselors' characteristics (e.g., years of experience, gender) and multicultural counseling competence.

More specifically, the research questions for the current study were as follows: (a) To what extent do existing professional school counselors perceive themselves to be multiculturally competent based on the factors of the Multicultural Counseling Competence and Training Survey-Revised (MCCTS-R)? And, (b) does professional school counselors' perceived multicultural counseling competence differ based on selected participant characteristics (e.g., whether they had taken a multicultural counseling course, their gender, years of experience, work setting)?

METHOD

Participants and Procedures

A systematic stratified sample of 510 professional school counselors was drawn from the membership of ASCA (N = 11,200). The sample was stratified by state in order to ensure representation from all geographic regions of ASCA. This was accomplished by selecting every 10th school counselor from the state list and 10 from the remaining U.S. regions (e.g., Puerto Rico, West Indies). The MCCTS-R was mailed to 510 prospective participants along with a cover letter explaining the purpose of the survey, the anonymous and confidential nature of the survey, and instructions for completion. A self-addressed, stamped envelope was included to encourage return of the surveys. No follow-up letters or questionnaires were mailed due to lack of funds. Of the 510 surveys mailed, usable returns were received from 209 school counselors (41% return rate).

Most of the counselors had 1-4 years (37%, n = 78) of counseling experience while 26% (n = 54) had 5-10 years, 22% (n = 46) had 15 years or more, and 14% (n = 30) had 11-14 years of counseling experience. Participants' self-reported race/ethnicity was as follows: 89% (n = 187) White/European descent, 3% (n = 6) African/Black, 1% Hispanic/Latino (n = 3), 2% Asian (n = 5), 2% Native American (n = 4), and 2% "other" (n = 4). Participants worked in elementary schools (37%, n = 79), middle schools (23%, n = 49), and high schools (31%, n = 65), and 7% (n = 16) worked in other types of school settings (e.g., elementary/middle, schools with all grades).

All regions of ASCA were represented in the sample: the Midwest, 16% (n = 33); North Atlantic, 23% (n = 48); South, 46% (n = 96); and West, 15% (n = 31). A majority of the counselors were female (83%, n = 172). Regarding multicultural counseling training, 52.4% (n = 109) of the participants had taken at least one multicultural counseling course in their entry-level training program. There are no data currently available regarding the demographics of ASCA membership (M. Hare, personal communication, May 17, 2001), so it is unclear how representative this sample is of school counselors who are members of ASCA.

Instrument

The instrument used in this study was a modified version of the Multicultural Counseling Competence and Training Survey (MCCTS; Holcomb-McCoy & Myers, 1999). The MCCTS was developed to measure the perceived multicultural competence of professional counselors based on the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) Multicultural Competencies and Explanatory Statements. The AMCD Competencies were developed in accordance with Sue et al.'s (1982) classic framework of multicultural counseling competence (i.e., awareness, knowledge, skills). The MCCTS is a self-report instrument containing 32 behaviorally stated items and 29 items that require participants to provide information regarding their entry-level counseling training experiences and demographics such as gender, age, race, and year of graduation.

In 1999, Holcomb-McCoy and Myers reported that there were five factors underlying the multicultural counseling competence items of the MCCTS: Multicultural Knowledge, Multicultural Awareness, Multicultural Terminology, Knowledge of Racial Identity Development Theories, and Multicultural Skills. In the calculation of internal consistency reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) for the instrument, alphas of .92, .92, .79, .66, and .91 were derived for the Multicultural Knowledge, Multicultural Awareness, Multicultural Terminology, Racial Identity, and Multicultural Skills subscales, respectively (the somewhat lower reliability coefficient for the Racial Identity subscale may have been the result of a smaller number of items included on that subscale).

The initial MCCTS was revised for the present investigation in order to reflect the language used in the school setting. For instance, the term students was used rather than clients. Feedback on the content and format of the revised survey was solicited from ethnically diverse and experienced school counselors (with 11, 10, and 5 years of counseling experience). They judged the items to be consistent with school counselors' experiences and relevant to the school setting.

Demographic information such as work setting, gender, and years of experience was included in a demographic section of the survey as counselor characteristics thought to be relevant to multicultural counseling competence. The main body of the instrument consisted of 32 behaviorally based statements, assessing awareness, knowledge, and skills (e.g., "I can discuss how culture affects the help-seeking behaviors of students"). Participants were asked to assess their multicultural competence for each item by using a 4-point' Likert-type scale: 4 = extremely competent, 3 = competent, 2 = somewhat competent, and 1 = not competent.

Research Design and Data Analysis

Before the primary statistical analyses were conducted, exploratory techniques were used to check the data for normal distribution, homogeneity of variance, input errors, outliers, or other unusual occurrences in the data. The factor analysis for the study was conducted in two stages: factor extraction and factor rotation. As part of the first stage to determine the number of extracted factors, eigenvalues and a scree plot based on a principal components solution were obtained. Three criteria were used to determine the number of factors to rotate: the "Kaiser Rule" (i.e., eigenvalues greater than 1), the scree test, and the interpretability of the factor solution (Green & Salkind, 2003). Although there were six components with eigenvalues greater than 1, the scree plot indicated three factors with eigenvalues in the sharp descent of the plot. Based on the plot, three factors were rotated using a maximum likelihood factor analysis with an oblimin rotation procedure (i.e., oblique rotation).

For research question 1, the competence variables were defined as the factor-based scores derived from the factor analysis of the 32-item MCCTS-R. The mean scores were computed by summing the competence item means that had the highest loadings on a factor and dividing by the number of items on the factor. An analysis of means and standard deviations of the factor scores was conducted to determine in which factors the participants perceived themselves to be most competent and least competent.

For research question 2, multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) were used to examine the statistical significance of mean differences across participant characteristics for the factors of perceived multicultural counseling competence. Four participant characteristic variables were used to examine research question number 2. Information for these variables was obtained from the demographic section of the MCCTS-R. "Coursework in multicultural counseling" was defined as whether the participant had taken at least one multicultural counseling course in entry-level training, and it had categories of yes or no. "Gender" was defined as the participant's reported gender and had categories of male and female. "Work setting," which was defined as the setting in which the school counselor was employed, had the following categories: elementary, middle school/junior high, and high school. "Years of experience," which was defined as the years of school counseling-related experience, was categorized as 1-4 years, 5-10 years, 11-14 years, and more than 15 years.

RESULTS

Before the research questions were addressed, a factor analysis of the MCCTS-R items was conducted. The rotated solution, as shown in Table 1, yielded three interpretable factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 and accounted for 55.11% of the variance. Only those items with a structure coefficient of an absolute value of .35 or above on a given factor were considered to be included as an item on that factor. Of the four items on factor 1, the items with the highest structure coefficients were 10 ("I can define prejudice") and 11 ("I can define discrimination"). Items from this factor were related to definitions of terms used in the field of multicultural counseling. Therefore, factor 1 was named "Multicultural Terminology."

Eighteen of the 19 items on factor 2 had structure coefficients higher than .50. Because the items referred primarily to knowledge of cultural groups and issues, factor 2 was named "Multicultural Knowledge." Items 27 ("I can discuss how the counseling process may conflict with the cultural values of at least two ethnic groups") and 28 ("I can list at least three barriers that prevent ethnic minority students from using counseling services") had the largest structure coefficients on factor 2.

Of the nine items on factor 3, the items with the highest structure coefficients were item 3 ("I am able to discuss how my culture has influenced the way I think") and item 2 ("I am aware of how my cultural background and experience have influenced my attitudes about psychological processes"). Because the items on this factor focused on an individual's cultural and self-awareness, this factor was labeled "Multicultural Awareness." A Cronbach's alpha procedure was used to assess internal consistency reliability estimates of the three resulting factors. Coefficients ranged from .85 to .97, indicating high internal consistency of the items loading on each factor (see Table 1).

Research Question 1: Professional School Counselors' Perceived Multicultural Competence

In order to examine the school counselors' perceived multicultural counseling competence, means and standard deviations were computed for each factor (see Table 2). Overall, the participants reported to be at least "somewhat competent" (i.e., mean factor score over 2.0) on all three factors.

Research Question 2: Professional School Counselors' Perceived Multicultural Competence and Selected Participant Characteristics

A series of one-way MANOVAs indicated significant differences in perceived multicultural counseling competence based on having taken multicultural coursework in entry-level training, for Multicultural Knowledge, Wilks' = .78, F(19, 184) = 2.81, p < .01, 2 = .22, and Multicultural Terminology, Wilks' = .96, F(4, 203) = 2.42, p = .05, 2 = .05. The multivariate 2 based on Wilks' was moderately strong for Multicultural Knowledge, indicating that 22% of the variance in Multicultural Knowledge was associated with whether counselors had taken multicultural coursework in their graduate programs. In contrast, the 2 for Multicultural Terminology was much weaker, .05, suggesting that 5% of the variance in Multicultural Terminology was associated with counselors having taken multicultural coursework.

Follow-up univariate analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were performed to determine which items were statistically significant. Because numerous univariate analyses were involved, the Bonferroni procedure was used to reduce the chances of committing a Type I error (Green & Salkind, 2003). Thus, only ANOVAs with a probability of .001 or less were accepted as statistically significant. On the Multicultural Knowledge factor, participants who had taken a multicultural counseling course reported significantly higher scores on items 19, 27, 28, and 29. The follow-up ANOVAs on the Multicultural Terminology factor were not significant. Gender, school setting, and years of experience were not significantly related to any of the factors of multicultural counseling competence.

DISCUSSION

The main purpose of this investigation was to determine how school counselors perceive their multicultural competence. The results suggested that professional school counselors perceive themselves to be at least somewhat competent on all of the domains of the MCCTS-R (i.e., multicultural knowledge, multicultural terminology, and multicultural awareness). If these findings are true, then one can assume that school counselors perceive of themselves as culturally competent in multicultural knowledge, awareness, and terminology. Although this result is encouraging, one must be cautious about inferring that school counselors are practicing culturally appropriate strategies and interventions. The extent to which counselors' perceived multicultural competence transfers to actual practice is unknown and is therefore a logical next step for future research.

Also, one must be concerned about the fact that two domains of multicultural competence (multicultural awareness and multicultural terminology) are slightly higher than the third domain (multicultural knowledge). One might infer then that school counselors have varying degrees of competence based on specific areas or domains of multicultural competence. Whether this multidimensional notion of multicultural competence influences school counselors' service to students is not known but also should be investigated.

Perhaps the most significant result of this study is the fact that school counselors who had taken a multicultural counseling course rated their multicultural knowledge and ability to define multicultural terminology significantly higher than those who had not taken a multicultural counseling course. Although this relationship should be investigated further for validation, the influence of multicultural counseling coursework on multicultural competence is encouraging and validates the presence of multicultural courses in counselor education programs. For two decades, the inclusion of multicultural coursework has been encouraged throughout the counseling literature (Corvin & Wiggins, 1989; Ibrahim & Arredondo, 1986; Parker, Moore, & Neimeyer, 1998). However, the impact of those courses on school counselors' multicultural competence has received little to no attention.

It is important to note that multicultural coursework did not significantly effect school counselors' multicultural awareness. This is puzzling because the literature has stressed the inclusion of cultural awareness activities as part of multicultural counseling training (Corvin & Wiggins, 1989). Perhaps school counselors' cultural awareness is developed through life experiences, self-reflection, and other lived experiences rather than through the content of multicultural counseling courses. Based on these results, it seems fitting then that school counselor educators evaluate and review the content of multicultural courses to ensure the coverage not only of multicultural awareness content but of all domains of multicultural counseling competence.

Implications for Future Research

Despite this study's findings that school counselors perceive themselves as at least "somewhat competent" on the domains of multicultural competence, there is still a need for further research that indicates a relationship between perceived multicultural competence and actual practice. As stated previously, whether school counselors' perceived multicultural competence is significantly related to the services that they provide students is unknown. Future studies should focus on the link or relationship between school counselors' perceived multicultural competence and their actual practice. Also, studies that focus on the difference between students' perceptions of counselors' multicultural competence and counselors' perceived multicultural competence are critical. Pragmatically, this type of research will inform us of how students perceive counselors' multicultural competence and how their perceptions relate to student outcomes (e.g., grades, graduation, behavior reduction). Clearly, this line of research is greatly needed in light of the attention placed on minority student achievement.

In the present study, school counselors' personal characteristics (e.g., gender, years of experience) did not have an influence on their perceived multicultural competence. However, future studies might examine the following aspects of school counselors in relation to their multicultural competence: (a) cultural experiences (e.g., experience in diverse schools, living in another country); (b) diversity training beyond coursework in a graduate program; (c) ethnicity; and (d) adherence to stereotypical beliefs about groups of people. This line of research will greatly influence our understanding of why particular counselors are more culturally competent than others and what types of experiences enhance the cultural competence of counselors.

Another important area for future research is the construct of social desirability and multicultural competence. Research has indicated that many multicultural self-rating instruments are highly related to social desirability (Constantine & Ladany, 2000; Worthington, Mobley, Franks, & Tan, 2000). Given the possible presence of social desirability and the general biases inherent in self-rated assessments, future research that utilizes other methods (e.g., observations, paired comparisons) of assessing the multicultural competence of school counselors is warranted. For instance, research that incorporates the use of taped sessions in which students rate school counselors' use of strategies with ethnically diverse students would enhance our knowledge of what students perceive as being "culturally appropriate" counseling techniques.

Future investigators also are encouraged to continue exploring the dimensionality of school counselors' multicultural counseling competence. While the majority of research on multicultural competencies has focused on Sue et al.'s (1998) tripartite model of multicultural counseling competence (i.e., awareness, knowledge, skills), most instruments have deviated to some extent from the model upon which they are based. The same is true of the MCCTS-R in the present study. Although this study provides some data about the dimensionality of school counselors' multicultural competence, supplementary evidence is needed to confirm or refute the findings. Additionally, because of the importance of multicultural issues to the school counseling field, future research is warranted to identify specific variables that may facilitate or impede the development of school counselors' multicultural counseling competence.

And finally, in relation to the multidimensional nature of school counselors' multicultural counseling competence, the assessment of school counselors' multicultural counseling competence also should be multidimensional. Future studies should include multiple measures that address other related variables to multicultural competence. For instance, the use of measures such as the Interracial Comfort Index (Claney & Parker, 1989) and the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (Helms & Carter, 1990) would be helpful in understanding related aspects or components of multicultural competence.

Implications for Practice

This study's findings have two significant implications for practicing school counselors. First, the positive influence of the multicultural counseling course on school counselors' perceived competence of the multicultural knowledge and terminology dimensions indicates the need for school counselors to engage in professional development activities (e.g., courses, workshops) to enhance their multicultural competence. If coursework can significantly influence a counselor's competence, then counselors' participation in professional development is not in vain. Supervisors of counseling and guidance should be vigilant about providing school counselors with ongoing educational and professional support on relevant diversity or multicultural topics. For instance, providing training opportunities related to racial and ethnic identity development of adolescents would enhance school counselors' multicultural knowledge and possibly their practice. And secondly, the use of an instrument such as the MCCTS-R can be a valuable tool for school counselors unsure of their level of multicultural competence. School counselors may want to evaluate their competence in order to determine areas where training or experience is needed.

Implications for Training

As previously mentioned, this study's finding that multicultural coursework significantly influenced counselors' multicultural competence validates the existence of multicultural counseling courses in counselor education. With that said, this study's most important implication for training is that multicultural coursework should be continued. School counselor educators should, therefore, continue existing multicultural courses and continuously evaluate the content of their courses to ensure that counseling trainees are receiving training in all domains of multicultural counseling competence. Even adding additional multicultural counseling courses, such as advanced courses in multicultural counseling, should be explored by counselor education faculty as a means to further enhance the multicultural counseling competence of counselors. It is interesting to note that although school counseling programs approved by the Council on the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs are required to address multicultural issues in their curricula, it is unknown how these programs are approaching this matter. Determining how diversity issues are infused in school counseling field experiences (e.g., internships), core school counseling courses, and other program components would be noteworthy and should be documented.

Limitations

Several important limitations need to be considered when interpreting the results of this study. Perhaps the primary limitation of this study is its self-report nature, and responses may reflect participants' desire to appear competent (i.e., social desirability) rather than report accurate levels of multicultural competence. Data from this study represent counselors' perceptions rather than their actual and demonstrated multicultural competence when working with culturally diverse students. Although self-report measures, as the one used for this study, are prominent in the literature, research involving actual practice would be a major step forward. Another serious limitation of this study is that information was not gathered on the racial or ethnic composition of the counselors' school population. It is possible that the participants' perceived multicultural counseling competence is related to their exposure or lack of exposure to culturally diverse student populations.

In addition, it could be possible that this study examined the perceived multicultural competence of school counselors who are more likely to have received training beyond multicultural courses or who are less intimidated by discussions pertaining to culture, ethnicity, and/or race. Furthermore, it is unknown whether those who join ASCA are more familiar with the latest trends in the field. Although these concerns may limit the generalizability of the results, this study serves as the beginning of an empirically supported understanding of currently practicing school counselors' multicultural competence.

CONCLUSION

Given the culturally and ethnically diverse student composition of today's public schools, the multicultural counseling competence of school counselors is a critical topic. Whether counselors are able to provide counseling services that are unbiased and culturally appropriate for students and their families can make a huge difference in student achievement, particularly minority student achievement. With the availability of an instrument to assess school counselors' multicultural counseling competence, it is hoped that school counselors will expand their assessment toolbox, thus allowing for a means to assess their own multicultural competence level.

Table 1. Structure Coefficients, Communality Estimates, Eigenvalues,
and Variance Accounted for from Maximum Likelihood Factor Analysis
(N = 209)

                                                        Structure
                                                       Coefficients

Item                                                 1       2      3

 (9) I can define racism.                           .89#    .53    .62

(10) I can define prejudice.                        .97     .45    .59

(11) I can define discrimination.                   .97     .43    .57

(12) I can define stereotype.                       .94#    .43    .58

 (8) I can discuss models of White racial           .41     .58#   .36
     identity development.

(13) I can identify the cultural basis of my        .38     .59#   .53
     communication style.

(16) I can give examples of how stereotypical       .48     .70#   .49
     beliefs about culturally different persons
     impact the counseling relationship.

(17) I can articulate the possible differences      .32     .73#   .34
     of the nonverbal behavior among the five
     major ethnic groups
     (i.e., African/Black, Hispanic/Latino,
     Asian, Native American, European/White).

(18) I can articulate the possible differences      .38     .78#   .37
     of the verbal behavior among the five
     major ethnic groups.

(19) I can discuss the counseling implications      .29     .69#   .26
     for at least two modals of racial/ethnic
     identity development.

(20) I can discuss within-group differences         .31     .64#   .33
     among ethnic groups
     (i.e., African American, Latino/Hispanic,
     Asian American, Native American).

(21) I can discuss how culture affects a            .34     .72    .38
     student's vocational choices.

(29) I can discuss how culture affects the          .37     .80#   .37
     help-seeking behaviors of students.

(23) I can discuss how culture affects the          .35     .75    .34
     manifestations of a psychological
     disorders.

(24) I can describe the degree to which a           .34     .80#   .33
     counseling approach is appropriate for a
     specific group of people.

(25) I can explain how factors such as poverty      .44     .80#   .43
     and powerlessness have influenced the
     current conditions of at least two ethnic
     groups.

(26) I can list at least three barriers that        .26     .74    .19
     prevent ethnic minority minority students
     from using counseling services.

(27) I can discuss how the counseling process       .31     .80#   .26
     may conflict with the cultural values of
     at least two ethnic groups.

(28) I can list at least three barriers that        .35     .80#   .31
     prevent ethnic minority students from
     using counseling services.

(29) I can discuss the potential bias of two        .30     .68#   .23
     assessment instruments frequently used in
     the schools.

(30) I can discuss family counseling from a         .40     .79#   .35
     cultural/ethnic perspective.

(31) I can anticipate when my helping style is      .40     .62#   .38
     inappropriate for a culturally different
     student.

(32) I can help students determine whether a        .45     .65#   .43
     problem stems from racism or biases in
     others.

 (1) I can discuss my own ethnic/cultural           .47     .32    .77
     heritage.

 (2) I am aware of how my cultural background       .48     .34    .85#
     and experiences have influenced my
     attitudes about psychological processes.

 (3) I am able to discuss how my culture has        .57     .38    .91#
     influenced the way I think.

 (4) I can recognize when my attitudes,             .44     .44    .53#
     beliefs, and values are interfering with
     providing the best services to my
     students.

 (5) I verbally communicate my acceptance of        .34     .32    .36#
     culturally different students.

 (6) I nonverbally communicate my acceptance of     .32     .32    .42#
     culturally different students.

 (7) I can discuss my family's perspective          .40     .18    .47#
     regarding acceptable and non-acceptable
     codes of conduct.

(14) I can identify my negative and positive        .53     .41    .56#
     emotional reactions toward persons of
     other racial and ethnic groups.

(15) I can identify my reactions that are based     .47     .38    .54#
     on stereotypical beliefs about different
     ethnic groups.

Eigenvalue                                        13.54    3.71   1.49
Variance accounted for                            33.67   16.43   5.02
Coefficient alpha                                   .97     .95    .85

                                                   Communality
Item                                               [h.sup.2]

 (9) I can define racism.                             .82

(10) I can define prejudice.                          .95

(11) I can define discrimination.                     .94

(12) I can define stereotype.                         .89

 (8) I can discuss models of White racial             .36
     identity development.

(13) I can identify the cultural basis of my          .44
     communication style.

(16) I can give examples of how stereotypical         .54
     beliefs about culturally different persons
     impact the counseling relationship.

(17) I can articulate the possible differences        .53
     of the nonverbal behavior among the five
     major ethnic groups
     (i.e., African/Black, Hispanic/Latino,
     Asian, Native American, European/White).

(18) I can articulate the possible differences        .61
     of the verbal behavior among the five
     major ethnic groups.

(19) I can discuss the counseling implications        .48
     for at least two modals of racial/ethnic
     identity development.

(20) I can discuss within-group differences           .41
     among ethnic groups
     (i.e., African American, Latino/Hispanic,
     Asian American, Native American).

(21) I can discuss how culture affects a              .53
     student's vocational choices.

(29) I can discuss how culture affects the            .64
     help-seeking behaviors of students.

(23) I can discuss how culture affects the            .56
     manifestations of a psychological
     disorders.

(24) I can describe the degree to which a             .64
     counseling approach is appropriate for a
     specific group of people.

(25) I can explain how factors such as poverty        .65
     and powerlessness have influenced the
     current conditions of at least two ethnic
     groups.

(26) I can list at least three barriers that          .57
     prevent ethnic minority minority students
     from using counseling services.

(27) I can discuss how the counseling process         .65
     may conflict with the cultural values of
     at least two ethnic groups.

(28) I can list at least three barriers that          .65
     prevent ethnic minority students from
     using counseling services.

(29) I can discuss the potential bias of two          .47
     assessment instruments frequently used in
     the schools.

(30) I can discuss family counseling from a           .62
     cultural/ethnic perspective.

(31) I can anticipate when my helping style is        .41
     inappropriate for a culturally different
     student.

(32) I can help students determine whether a          .46
     problem stems from racism or biases in
     others.

 (1) I can discuss my own ethnic/cultural             .60
     heritage.

 (2) I am aware of how my cultural background         .73
     and experiences have influenced my
     attitudes about psychological processes.

 (3) I am able to discuss how my culture has          .83
     influenced the way I think.

 (4) I can recognize when my attitudes,               .34
     beliefs, and values are interfering with
     providing the best services to my
     students.

 (5) I verbally communicate my acceptance of          .17
     culturally different students.

 (6) I nonverbally communicate my acceptance of       .20
     culturally different students.

 (7) I can discuss my family's perspective            .25
     regarding acceptable and non-acceptable
     codes of conduct.

(14) I can identify my negative and positive          .39
     emotional reactions toward persons of
     other racial and ethnic groups.

(15) I can identify my reactions that are based       .33
     on stereotypical beliefs about different
     ethnic groups.

Eigenvalue
Variance accounted for
Coefficient alpha

Note. These results were obtained using a maximum likelihood factor
analysis with a direct oblimin rotation (N = 209). Bolded structure
coefficients indicate the highest coefficient for each item. Factor
1 = Multicultural Terminology; factor 2 = Multicultural Knowledge;
factor 3 = Multicultural Awareness.

Note: Highest coefficient for each item indicated with #.

Table 2. Means and Standard Deviations for Factors of Perceived
Multicultural Counseling Competence as a Function of Participant
Characteristics

                                           Factors

                                Multicultural     Multicultural
                                   Knowledge         Awareness

Characteristics                  M        SD        M        SD

Overall                         2.46      .81      3.37     .62

Multicultural coursework
  Yes                           2.57      .77      3.27     .62
  No                            2.30      .86      3.28     .65

Gender
  Female                        2.44      .81      3.28     .63
  Male                          2.46      .92      3.34     .61

Years of experience
  1-4 years                     2.44      .83      3.43     .61
  5-10 years                    2.42      .79      3.53     .64
  11-14 years                   2.48      .78      3.63     .53
  15 years +                    2.47      .87      3.59     .59

Work setting
  High school                   2.42      .76      3.54     .58
  Middle school                 2.57      .88      3.62     .52
  Elementary school             2.39      .81      3.44     .65

                                   Factors

                                Multicultural
                                 Terminology

Characteristics                  M        SD

Overall                         3.41      .62

Multicultural coursework
  Yes                           3.48      .59
  No                            3.33      .64

Gender
  Female                        3.40      .60
  Male                          3.51      .67

Years of experience
  1-4 years                     3.29      .68
  5-10 years                    3.45      .55
  11-14 years                   3.47      .55
  15 years +                    3.52      .61

Work setting
  High school                   3.32      .59
  Middle school                 3.52      .63
  Elementary school             3.42      .61

Note. N = 209.

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Cheryl C. Holcomb-McCoy is an assistant professor, Department of Counseling and Personnel Services, University of Maryland at College Park. E-mail: [e-mail]