Abstract
Although research suggests that school psychologists are generally satisfied with their experiences in the field, scholars have yet to examine how exposure to racial microaggressions, or subtle race-based insults, may impact satisfaction. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relation between exposure to microaggressions and satisfaction among practicing school psychologists, students, and university faculty. We were particularly interested in the role of race. We collected survey data from 93 school psychologists, and found that exposure to microaggressions predicted reported satisfaction with jobs and placements, but that the relation was only relevant for People of Color (POC). We also found that the relation between microaggression exposure and satisfaction was moderated by the demographic of one’s work setting, as POC in settings that were primarily Black and Brown reported less satisfaction when they experienced high levels of microaggressions. Future directions and implications for the field of school psychology are discussed.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection data analysis, and manuscript writing were performed by Brea M. Banks and Mackenzie Callahan. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The study was approved by our university’s institutional review board in 2021. We obtained informed consent from all participants and all data are deidentified.
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Banks, B.M., Callahan, M.A. The Role of Microaggressions on School Psychologists’ Satisfaction with the Field. Contemp School Psychol 27, 515–522 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-022-00415-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-022-00415-7