Kevin Cokley, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin

1. Multicultural Research: Can Science and Multiculturalism Peacefully Co-exist in Counseling Psychology Training? Kevin Cokley, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin

2. Science and Multiculturalism • Psychological scientists and practitioners often don’t communicate or collaborate • Presumed tension b/w both • Is multicultural psychology ascientific? • Is psychological science acultural?

3. Science and Multiculturalism • Issues of cultural diversity and multiculturalism are not typically covered in courses on methods and statistics (Matsumoto, 1994)

4. Counseling Psychology and Science • Psychology is perceived as a “soft” science • Recent Feb 2011 Monitor article about promoting psychology as a STEM discipline • Only 30% of people believe psychology uses scientific method • Most people think that psychology mostly consists of counseling and clinical work • Perception that counseling psychology is among the “softest” specialties and least scientific within psychology (see Best et al., 2001) • Recent closing of at least one APA accredited counseling psychology program (i.e., Ohio State) due, in part, to concerns that counseling psychology did not contribute to the Psychology Department’s national rankings

5. Counseling Psychology and Science • What is the “typical” curriculum counseling psychology students receive related to the production and consumption of research? • Statistics • Research Methods • Research Projects • Theses • Dissertation • Teaching Assistantship opportunities • How much time do counseling psychology students spend in clinical-related training experiences vs. research-oriented experiences? • Is there a culture of research and publishing? (see Gelso et al., 1996, Phillips & Russell, 1994)

6. Counseling Psychology and Multiculturalism • Multiculturalism is a core value of counseling psychology (Toporek et al., 2005) • Approximately 70% of counseling psychology programs have faculty who indicate multicultural research interests compared to only 32% of clinical psychology programs (Norcross et al., 1998)

7. Counseling Psychology and Multiculturalism • Students are often attracted to counseling psychology because of the emphasis on multiculturalism and the multicultural research interests of faculty • Unfortunately, the multicultural emphasis might contribute to, or perpetuate, the perception that counseling psychology is “soft” and not scientifically rigorous

8. Counseling Psychology and Multiculturalism • Does counseling psychology want to tie its identity to multicultural research (MR)? • How are students trained to conduct competent MR? • Do faculty believe that MR training is necessary? • Do faculty believe that MR is scientific?

9. Counseling Psychology and Multiculturalism • What aspects of counseling psychology training program curricula prepare students to conduct MR? • What are the obstacles in offering training in MR? • How can the curriculum be revised to address gaps and limitations in MR training?