TPC-Journal-V5-Issue4

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 4 483 Discussion The findings of this study help fill a gap in the literature identified by Boes et al. (1999) and Warnke et al. (1999) about the amount of counseling experience needed prior to entering doctoral programs. Goodrich et al. (2011) and Bernard (2006) asserted that doctoral degrees in CES are intended to provide the student with advanced competencies in clinical practice, classroom instruction, supervision, research and leadership so that the student may serve as a future leader for the profession of counselor education in academic positions. Specifically, these findings shed light on what faculty members are recommending to master’s students regarding PME prior to entering a doctoral program and faculty members’ preferences in hiring colleagues with regard to PME. PME is important both for doctoral students and faculty members, as is indicated by our findings. According to respondents, experience informs supervision, teaching, research and professional identity during the doctoral program and in faculty roles. These findings are compatible with previous research (Bodenhorn et al., 2014; Munson, 1996; Nelson et al., 2003; Rogers et al., 1998). Nelson et al.’s (2003) findings point to the importance of PME in doctoral admissions. They found this was a helpful factor in selecting quality doctoral students, though their participants reported not all applicants have this experience. As for future faculty members, experience has been found to be important as well by Rogers et al. (1998) and Bodenhorn et al. (2014). Bodenhorn established that the majority of assistant and associate professor announcements on CESNET listed counseling experience or licensure as a required or preferred qualification, and Rogers et al. found that counselor education programs ranked clinical experience as their second most important criteria for faculty positions. Similarly, in the social work discipline, Munson (1996) asserted social work PhDs need to have post-MSW experience in order to fulfill the needs of the field, which include teaching master’s-level students and researching to enhance knowledge. CES faculty spoke to the importance of clinical practice in areas of teaching, supervision and research. Munson (1996) connected clinical experience to research performance in reporting that doctoral students who lack clinical experience tend to avoid practice-related dissertation studies. Similarly, respondents in our study wrote about doctoral students’ clinical experience providing fodder for research ideas. Further, clinical experience may validate teaching credibility (Rogers et al., 1998). This was evident in this study’s findings as well, along with validating supervision credibility. There was concern among respondents about doctoral students providing supervision to master’s students who would possibly be only one semester behind them in experience. In addition, respondents expressed concern that doctoral students and future faculty members with no PME would exhibit rote, by-the-book teaching, rather than drawing on clinical experience to illustrate abstract concepts in counseling. Though there was much support for PME in our findings, many respondents emphasized evaluating the circumstances of each student individually. Among the circumstances that stood out were age and maturity. Some respondents expressed concern that it can be difficult to return to school once individuals have careers and families. The academic and skill level of the master’s student was another factor emphasized by respondents. Proctor (1996) asserted that the social work field might miss out on academically skilled and eager students by requiring PME. This may be a fear for some in the counselor education field as well. Indeed, within this study’s findings, there was a tension between academically and clinically gifted students entering doctoral programs right away and the importance of getting experience.