TPC-Journal-V5-Issue4

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 4 475 In the related field of social work, Proctor (1996) and Munson (1996) had opposing viewpoints of whether doctoral programs should admit graduate students with fewer than 2 years of post-master’s in social work (MSW) experience. Proctor argued that doctoral programs in social work should not require PME because it is a detriment to the field. He justified this viewpoint with the idea that by requiring experience, programs are missing out on students who are research-minded and eager to continue with their education; therefore, programs may lose them to other disciplines. Proctor also argued this requirement delays the onset of careers in social work education and research, with educators and researchers starting often in their late thirties and early forties, behind their counterparts in other disciplines. Munson argued that it is not possible for graduates of social work doctoral programs to fulfill the needs of the field, which include building knowledge, conducting practice research and effectively teaching social work practice, without post-MSW experience. The research in CES and related fields in the area of experience preferred for doctoral programs and faculty positions is dated. Further, the CES field is lacking data on how counselor educators are advising master’s students in terms of amount, if any, of PME that would be beneficial to obtain prior to entering a doctoral program. The field also is lacking clear data on preferences of CES search committees on clinical experience gained outside of program practicum and internships. An exploration of these two questions will equip counselor educators in more effectively advising master’s students who are interested in doctoral programs and faculty careers in CES. Method The authors used a survey with both closed and open-ended questions to gain both quantitative and qualitative data about the research questions: What are faculty members recommending to counselor education master’s students regarding PME when considering doctoral studies? What are current faculty hiring preferences regarding levels of experience needed? Surveys were developed by the research team and piloted among CES colleagues with questions about serving on search committees and what priority considerations are given during a search for CES clinical and tenure- track faculty. Hypothetical situations involving a master’s student asking for advice about pursuing a doctoral degree and a search committee situation also were posed in the survey, with space to provide a rationale for the responses, which garnered qualitative data. Procedure Access to participants was developed in two different formats, using the same survey. Using a purchased list of 500 randomly selected members of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES), half of the names on the list were contacted by postal mail, and half were contacted by e-mail with a request to complete the survey. Response rates have been shown to be higher for surveys sent through postal mail than for surveys sent electronically (Shannon & Bradshaw, 2002) and the researchers aimed to maximize the response rate; however, financial constraints mandated that only half of the surveys be sent through postal mail. Three weeks after the surveys were distributed, a reminder was sent electronically to request completion of the survey, providing the alternative of electronic completion for those who had received the initial request in postal mail. The survey was housed on SurveyMonkey, using the secure feature. The authors input the results in SurveyMonkey for the postal responses. Simultaneously, the authors sent a survey electronically to the liaison for each of the programs listed on the CACREP Web site as accredited for a doctoral CES program. A question from that survey was used to provide insight about positive and negative impact of post-master’s counseling experience on students’ performance in doctoral classes.