JOURNAL OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING AND DEVELOPMENT • October 2019 • Vol. 47 239
© 2019 American Counseling Association. All rights reserved.
Received 06/15/17
Revised 04/12/18
Accepted 06/05/18
DOI: 10.1002/jmcd.12156
The Experiences of Students of Color
at a Predominantly White Institution:
Implications for Counselor Training
Nicole Pulliam, Tina R. Paone,
Krista M. Malott, and Jordan Shannon
This qualitative study examined the experiences of 11 students of color who
participated in 2 multicultural counseling courses in a master’s-level counsel-
ing program at a predominantly White institution. Findings illustrate students’
learning experiences based on instructors’ racial and ethnic identities, including
a pivotal transition from distrust to trust toward the White instructor. Implica-
tions for teaching race-based topics with students of color are presented.
Keywords: students of color, multicultural counseling, counselor education,
interpretative phenomenological analysis, instructors’ racial identities
Este estudio cualitativo examinó las experiencias de 11 estudiantes de color
que participaron en dos cursos de consejería multicultural en un programa
de consejería de nivel máster en una institución predominantemente blanca.
Los hallazgos ilustran las experiencias de aprendizaje de los alumnos ba-
sadas en las identidades raciales y étnicas de los docentes, incluyendo una
transición fundamental desde la desconfianza hasta la confianza hacia el
docente blanco. Se presentan las implicaciones para la enseñanza de temas
basados en la raza con alumnos de color.
Palabras clave: estudiantes de color, consejería multicultural, educación de
consejeros, análisis fenomenológico interpretativo, identidades raciales de
los docentes
N
umerous scholars have assessed and determined best pedagogical
approaches for increasing counseling students’ multicultural
competencies (Buckley & Foldy, 2010; Seward, 2014; Seward &
Guiffrida, 2012). Suggestions for competent training include increasing skills
and knowledge with diverse populations and increasing counselor social
justice commitment and awareness of personal identities, biases, and privileges
(Ratts, Singh, Nassar-McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, 2016). Despite this
substantial base of literature, there remains a gap in the research regarding
best multicultural training practices specific to students of color, a population
with distinct educational needs with regard to multicultural course content
(Curtis-Boles & Bourg, 2010; Haskins et al., 2013; Pieterse, Lee, & Fetzer,
2016). Scholars have only recently begun to consider the unique educational
Nicole Pulliam and Tina R. Paone, Department of Educational Counseling and Leadership, Monmouth
University; Krista M. Malott, Department of Education and Counseling, Villanova University; Jordan
Shannon, Department of Counseling and Human Services, Syracuse University. Correspondence concerning
this article should be addressed to Nicole Pulliam, Department of Educational Counseling and Leadership,
Monmouth University, 400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ 07764 (email: npulliam@monmouth.edu).