Relationships between ecosystemic variables and professional identity of master’s counseling students

Abstract

Despite the recent increased attention in professional identity in the counseling profession, the literature on professional identity development (PID) of master’s students is limited. As such, we designed a cross-sectional, correlational study to examine whether training environment, advisor-advisee relationship, and online versus on-ground learning delivery could predict students’ PID. We recruited 229 students from CACREP-accredited programs to complete a web-based survey. Bivariate correlation results showed that master’s-level counseling students who reported higher levels of satisfaction in their advisor-advisee relationship and a stronger training environment reported higher levels of professional identity. Regression results further showed that the combined study predictors significantly accounted for 9% of the variance of their professional identity (PI). Only the advisor-advisee relationship and the number of courses students had taken contributed uniquely to the students’ PI. Implications on the criticality to consider ecological influences when understanding students’ PID is discussed.