Title

The Effect of Level of Specific Occupational Knowledge Prior to Initial Employment and Program Type on Job Satisfaction among Counselor Educators

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)

Department

Counseling

Date of Award

Fall 2018

Abstract

The purpose of this causal comparative investigation was to discern if there is an effect between type of Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)-accredited counselor training programs (master's-only or master's and doctoral) and perceived level of job knowledge prior to first employment and job satisfaction. The independent variables for this study included level of program, master's-only or master's and doctoral, and level of knowledge of job expectations prior to first employment. The dependent variable for this study was job satisfaction. Job satisfaction was assessed via the Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1985). Knowledge of job expectations was assessed via one survey item in which participants were asked to evaluate their knowledge of job expectations, prior to first employment, on a scale of 1 to 6, with a descriptor for each level. Participants indicated employment in either a master's-only counselor preparation program or employment in a program in which both master's and doctoral degrees were offered.Participants were counselor educators employed at colleges and universities offering master's degree and/or doctoral degree programs accredited by the CACREP within the American Counseling Association's (ACA) southern region. The demographic questionnaire and JSS were distributed by email, and participants were directed to the Qualtrics survey system to submit their responses, ©2018 Qualtrics. Survey results were uploaded from the Qualtrics survey site into a spreadsheet for analysis. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25.0 was used to conduct statistical analyses. One hundred counselor educators in CACREP-accredited training programs housed in the ACA's southern region participated in this research to determine if there is an interaction between the independent. An interaction was identified between level of knowledge of job expectations prior to first employment and the dependent variable job satisfaction. There was not an effect found between level of program and the dependent variable job satisfaction. There was no interaction between the two independent variables.

Advisor

Chester Robinson

Subject Categories

Education | Educational Psychology

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