UC Santa Barbara

There is a critical need to diversify the field of school psychology to better serve the educational and mental health needs of ethnically and racially minoritized youth and their families. This dissertation study focuses specifically on increasing the representation of Black school psychologists. Previous literature shows that Black youth have been historically marginalized and discriminated against in the U.S. system of education. Therefore, increasing representation of Black school psychologists is critically important to better serve Black youth. In striving to increase the recruitment and retention of Black school psychologists, this study aims to provide an understanding about the reasons why Black students choose school psychology and whether they are satisfied with their training. Using multiple regression analysis, this study examined self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and task value as variables predicting career satisfaction among Black graduate school psychology students. Results indicated that outcome expectations and task value were significant predictors of career choice satisfaction. Hope and belongingness did not mediate the relation between self-efficacy, task value outcome expectations, and career choice satisfaction. Exploratory analyses were also conducted on alignment with NASP Domains and observed across doctoral, masters, and specialist students. Implications for research and practice within the field of school psychology are discussed.