Exploring Latinx College Students' Experiences With High School Counselors

Abstract

Only a few researchers have used qualitative methods to explore Latinx students' experiences and testimonials with their high school counselors. These studies, conducted more than 10 years ago, found that Latinx students reported negative experiences with high school counselors, such as low academic expectations and lack of availability. In the current study, we interviewed eight Latinx college students from the southern United States to learn about their experiences with their high school counselors. The following five themes emerged from interpretative phenomenological analysis of the data: (a) high academic expectations, (b) advisement, (c) lack of availability and accessibility, (d) no social or emotional support, and (e) limited career development. Two crucial implications from this study are that school counselors need to be engaged in all activities aligned with the American School Counselor Association guidelines and should remind Latinx students regularly about school counselors’ essential roles and responsibilities in academic, career, and social/emotional development. We discuss additional implications.