Gender, Gender Identity and Undergraduates' Perceptions of School Psychology as a Career Choice

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if males and females differ in their perceptions of school psychology as a career and to determine if gender identity has an effect on individuals' perception of school psychology. One hundred and four participants completed a survey that assessed their gender identity, knowledge of four career fields in psychology, their perceived gender ratings of different helping professions, and their perception of how well school psychology could fulfill their career needs. Males and females did not differ in their reported knowledge and perceived gender ratings of school psychology. Males and females did not differ in their perception of school psychology fulfilling their career needs. Participants were sorted into four gender identity groups, and none of the gender identity groups significantly differed in their perceptions of school psychology fulfilling their career needs. Males, females and the gender identity groups rated similar career satisfiers as being fulfilled by school psychology. Although there were no significant differences between the groups on these measures, further study of efforts to recruit more males into the profession of school psychologists is recommended.