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Professional Needs of Doctoral-Level Students and Early Career Professionals in School Psychology

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Abstract

In light of persistent workforce shortages, school psychologists must support the professional growth and well-being of graduate students and early career professionals (ECPs) in their field. This exploratory study examined the self-reported needs, interests, and challenges of doctoral-level ECPs and graduate students in school psychology. Participants were 87 ECP members (n = 55) and student affiliates (SAs; n = 32) of Division 16 of the American Psychological Association (APA D16). A brief online survey assessed their interest in a variety of professional development topics, conference programming formats, and other resources (e.g., webinars and Internet articles). Participants also responded to open-ended items assessing professional challenges as well as organizations accessed outside of APA D16. Whereas ECPs in faculty positions expressed the most interest in research-related professional development, ECPs in practice and SAs expressed the greatest interest in practice-oriented programming. Both ECPs and SAs valued symposia, informal sessions, brief Internet articles, and webinars as forums for professional support. Finally, ECPs and SAs noted challenges related to interpersonal relations in the workplace, diversity and multiculturalism, and pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training. The results of this study suggest that school psychology professional organizations have a significant role in supporting ECPs and SAs with a range of developmental tasks and professional challenges. Moreover, these organizations can support ECPs and graduate students by providing concise and time-efficient conferencing programming (< 3-h trainings) as well as a variety of accessible digital resources (e.g., webinars and Internet articles).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Montclair State University, 219 Dickson Hall, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ, 07043, USA

    Sally L. Grapin

  2. A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, University of Connecticut, 263 Farmington Avenue, MC 6222, Farmington, CT, 06030-6222, USA

    Nicholas W. Gelbar

  3. Department of Educational and Psychological Studies, University of South Florida, College of Education, 4202 East Fowler Ave, EDU 105, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA

    Stacy-Ann A. January

  4. Psychological Studies in Education, Temple University College of Education, 1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Jessica S. Reinhardt

  5. Department of Psychology, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd #21030, Bowling Green, KY, 42103-1030, USA

    Sarah Ochs

  6. Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, New Mexico State University, MSC 3CEP, P.O. Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM, 88003-8001, USA

    Lisa S. Peterson

  7. Prince George’s County Public Schools Office of Psychological Services, Judy P. Hoyer Family Learning Center, 8908 Riggs Road, Adelphi, MD, 20783, USA

    Julie A. Grossman

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  1. Sally L. Grapin
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  4. Jessica S. Reinhardt
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  7. Julie A. Grossman
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Correspondence to Sally L. Grapin.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Grapin, S.L., Gelbar, N.W., January, SA.A. et al. Professional Needs of Doctoral-Level Students and Early Career Professionals in School Psychology. Contemp School Psychol 25, 491–502 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-020-00291-z

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