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.

Keywords

high school counselors Latinx students

Introduction

The Latinx population is one of the fastest growing groups in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020), with the potential to positively influence the economic workforce in upcoming years (Cruz et al., 2021). Increased growth among the Latinx population means more individuals will seek enrollment in higher education institutions because a college degree is linked with economic mobility, community stability, and the ability to create “economically sustainable Latino communities” (Contreras & Contreras, 2015, p. 152). However, Latinx students’ college persistence and graduation rates lag those of their non-Latinx peers (Cruz et al., 2021). Shak (2019) reported that 17% of young Latinx individuals earned a bachelor’s degree or above compared with 40% of White individuals. Given the social significance of a college degree and the low persistence rates among Latinx students in postsecondary education, the need to understand these students’ K–12 school experiences to prepare for the transition to college is significant.

The reasons cited for Latinx students’ low persistence rates in postsecondary education include an interplay among individual, interpersonal, and institutional challenges that negatively affect their academic achievement, mental health, career development, and other factors (Vela, Lu, et al., 2016). Individual factors include self-esteem, meaning in life, college self-efficacy, and mental health (Gore et al., 2005; Kitzrow, 2003; Vela et al., 2013; Vela, Ikonomopoulos, et al., 2016). Interpersonal factors include lack of school support or resources from school counselors and teachers (Cavazos & Cavazos, 2010; Parker & Ray, 2017; Vela-Gude et al., 2009) and ethnic microaggressions (Huynh, 2012). Institutional factors include curriculum tracking, discrimination, language barriers, and unequal access to college information (Cavazos, 2009; Clark et al., 2013; Vela et al., 2013). As a result of these challenges, Latinx high school students need support and resources to transition to postsecondary education.

Much has been written about how high school counselors have an essential responsibility to support academic, career, and social/emotional development among all students, particularly Latinx students (e.g., American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2019; Arriero & Griffin, 2019; Ryu et al., 2021; Tello & Lonn, 2017). School counselors have a specific model, the ASCA National Model (ASCA, 2019) to help all students prepare for postsecondary readiness and success and maintain positive mental health. Because Latinx students continue to experience challenges that negatively influence their mental health and academic achievement, high school counselors' support in academic, career, and social/emotional development is paramount. School counselors, however, might not be able to fulfill their roles in helping Latinx students transition to postsecondary education for multiple reasons, such as not having enough time and support from school principals to focus on counseling-related duties (Blake, 2020; McGowan, 2021).

Only a few researchers have used qualitative methods to explore Latinx students' experiences with and testimonials regarding their high school counselors (Malott, 2010; Vela-Gude et al., 2009). 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. However, current knowledge of Latinx students’ experiences with their high school counselors remains lacking. Because school counselors’ roles and responsibilities have changed, with school counselors having more commitment to supporting Latinx students through social justice advocacy and family partnerships (Gonzalez et al., 2018; Stickl Haugen et al., 2021), understanding how high school counselors help Latinx students pursue and succeed in postsecondary education is critical. In other words, more information is needed to determine if high school counselors have answered the call to support Latinx students as they transition to postsecondary education. Without such information, the ability to improve Latinx students’ success in postsecondary education will remain limited.

School Counselors' Roles and Responsibilities

ASCA (2019) has delineated specific roles and responsibilities for school counselors to help students with academic, career, and social/emotional development. School counselors build school counseling programs with data-informed decision making, including a curriculum that focuses on mindsets and behaviors (ASCA, 2021) to prepare all students for postsecondary education and improve students' academic achievement (ASCA, 2019). Other researchers have contended that school counselors are well positioned to design individual, group, and classroom activities to support all students’ academic, career, and social/emotional development (ASCA, 2019). Moreover, school counselors can serve as change agents in multicultural advocacy (Aydin et al., 2012) and develop partnerships with culturally diverse families (Betters-Bubon & Schultz, 2018; Evans et al., 2011). However, to accomplish all these objectives and help Latinx students with social/emotional and academic development, school counselors must have sufficient time and administrative support to engage in activities aligned with ASCA's (2019, 2022) recommendations.

Over and above ASCA's guidance and standards, school counselors need further guidance to foster Latinx students’ college and career readiness. The College Board National Office for School Counselor Advocacy (NOSCA, 2010) provides guidelines for school counselors to support students' college and career readiness. These practices focus on college aspirations, academic planning for college readiness, and college and career exploration, among other topics (NOSCA, 2010). School counselors can select from activities in each area to support students' college and career development. Thus, school counselors can create a college-going culture with (a) counselor expectations and priorities, (b) student–counselor contact for college advising, and (c) college and career readiness activities (Bryan et al., 2021). School counselors also have other models, such as Teaching and Reaching Every Area (TAREA), to create school–family–community partnerships to support Latinx students' academic achievement (Betters-Bubon & Schultz, 2018).

Researchers have provided school counselors with guidelines to support Latinx students with psychosocial and emotional needs (Tello & Lonn, 2017). School counselors can use various strategies and interventions, including positive psychology and subjective well-being programs (Lenz et al., 2020; Vela, Garcia, et al., 2019), to help Latinx students cultivate factors related to psychosocial and emotional needs. Because researchers have found that positive psychological factors, such as hope and psychological grit, have been linked with Latinx students’ positive mental health and subjective happiness (Vela et al., 2016), school counselors can use positive psychology interventions and programs to cultivate these factors among Latinx students. Researchers, including Lenz et al. (2020) and Vela, Garcia, et al. (2019), have called for school counselors to use positive psychology or strengths-based programming to help Latinx students develop subjective well-being and coping skills beneficial for postsecondary education.

School counselors have guidelines and resources to support Latinx students' social/emotional, academic, and career development, and should engage in ASCA-appropriate activities and duties to deliver this support in all three domains (ASCA, 2019). Despite the call for school counselors to play a significant role in helping Latinx students pursue postsecondary education, researchers have paid minimal attention to Latinx students’ perceptions of their lived experiences with their high school counselors.

Latinx Students’ Experiences With High School Counselors

Researchers and policymakers have provided excellent guidelines for school counselors to support Latinx students, yet few studies have explored Latinx students’ experiences with their high school counselors. Malott (2010) used qualitative research methods with 20 adolescents of Mexican origin to explore strengths and challenges related to ethnic heritage. One finding was that some students perceived that their high school counselors did not believe in their academic potential and had lower educational expectations. A student said that “the school counselor believed he would fail academically because he was Mexican” (Malott, 2010, p. 17).

In another study, Vela-Gude et al. (2009) interviewed Latinx college students about their experiences with high school counselors. Significant findings were that some Latinx students received inadequate advisement, perceived lack of counselor availability, lacked individual counseling, received differential treatment, and had low academic expectations. One student commented regarding the lack of individual counseling and attention and time constraints with personnel: “But in terms of the emotional things, she was very rarely readily available because we had a shortage in the amount of faculty, particularly those in counseling” (Vela-Gude et al., 2009, p. 276). Perceptions by Latinx students that their high school counselors are not available or do not provide high academic expectations can result in many of these students leaving high school with poor coping skills and lacking self-efficacy to pursue and succeed in postsecondary education.

Purpose of the Study

The literature review shows that researchers and policymakers have provided school counselors with recommendations to support Latinx students’ career, academic, and social/emotional development (ASCA, 2019). School counselors should support Latinx students with career and college readiness programs and strategies to cultivate their positive mental health and coping skills (Lenz et al., 2020; Vela, Garcia, et al., 2019). However, what remains lacking is understanding of Latinx students’ perceptions of their lived experiences with their high school counselors. The perspectives of Latinx college students are unknown in terms of the extent to which their high school counselors provided support and resources for social/emotional, academic, and career development. Therefore, we explored the following research questions: What were Latinx college students' lived experiences with their high school counselors? How have high school counselors supported Latinx students’ transition to postsecondary education?

Method

Research Design

We selected a phenomenological approach to explore Latinx college students’ experiences with high school counselors and what meaning they derived from those experiences (Hannon et al., 2019; Moustakas, 1994). For this study, we sought to explore Latinx college students’ lived experiences with their high school counselors. Young (2017) commented that phenomenological research is aimed to address lived experiences and that individuals who have those experiences with the phenomenon can provide responses and insight. This study focused on Latinx students’ perceptions of their experiences with high school counselors; thus, a phenomenological approach was a good fit because phenomenological studies aim to discover a group of individuals' lived experiences and perspectives about a specific phenomenon (Young, 2017).

Using a phenomenological research design, we needed to draw on ontological and epistemological positions (Hannon et al., 2019). Like other researchers who have used this qualitative design, we acknowledge our collective stance that the reality of any phenomenon is relative and can be subjected to multiple realities (Hays & Singh, 2012). We also acknowledge an epistemological perspective that knowledge is co-constructed between research participants and researchers (Hays & Singh, 2012). As a result, we followed a two-step process in which research participants reflected on their lived experiences with their high school counselors. We then analyzed and interpreted these students’ lived experiences with their high school counselors (Hannon et al., 2019; Smith & Osborn, 2007).

Participants

Permission was obtained through the institutional review board of our university, located within the southern region of the United States. Following approval, we recruited eight Latinx undergraduate students using purposeful criterion sampling procedures (Creswell, 2009). Criterion sampling was used to ensure that participants met specific requirements, such as recently graduating from high school (Balkin & Kleist, 2017).

Participants were enrolled undergraduate students attending one Hispanic-serving university in the southern region of the United States. The participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 19 years (M = 18.45); six self-identified as female and two as male. Six participants described themselves as Latinx or Latina and two as Latino male. Participants attended high school in the southern region of the United States, where Latina/o students were the ethnic majority. The lead author sent a recruitment email to an instructor of a first-year learning framework course in fall 2021, inviting her to ask her students to participate in this study. Eight participants responded to the instructor's invitation for students to participate in this study. Each participant consented to participate and was assigned a pseudonym to protect their anonymity.

Research Procedures

Like Crockett and colleagues (2018) and Vela, Fisk, et al. (2019), we followed Moustakas’s (1994) procedures for data collection and analysis. These procedures were (a) selecting a phenomenon of interest: Latinx college students’ lived experiences with their high school counselors; (b) bracketing our research assumptions and values; (c) collecting data from individuals with experiences with high school counselors; (d) analyzing participants’ experiences for commonalities; (e) writing a description of what participants experienced; and (f) describing the essence of participants’ lived experiences with their high school counselors (Crockett et al., 2018).

Selecting a Phenomenom of Interest

The lead author conducts research that focuses on Latinx students’ mental health, career development, and resilience. Based on his experiences with high school counselors, he became interested to learn from other Latinx students’ lived experiences with their high school counselors.

Bracketing Assumptions and Researchers’ Positionality

Research team members play essential roles in phenomenological research and need to pay attention to their worldviews (Young, 2017). To reduce potential researcher bias (Creswell, 2009), we used a research team of four individuals with varied professional and life experiences. We discussed our expectations of research outcomes and our collective beliefs regarding high school counselors’ roles and responsibilities when supporting Latinx students to transition to postsecondary education. The first author, a Hispanic male, is a faculty member at a Hispanic-serving university. He followed Moustakas' (1994) transcendental approach to bracket assumptions through a journal reflection entry and conversations with the second author. He was aware of his commonalities with the participants’ experiences with high school counselors and was mindful not to lead or probe participants during the interviews. Overall, our project team used bracketing to ensure that our findings reflected Latinx college students’ experiences with their high school counselors, and not our own experiences.

Data Collection

Interviews are a method of data collection in phenomenology to gain insight into participants’ lived experiences (Crockett et al., 2018; Moustakas, 1994; Young, 2017). The eight Latinx undergraduate students participated in both individual and focus group interviews for our study during the fall semester of 2021. To accommodate students’ availability, we conducted four individual interviews and two focus groups with two participants in each group. The lead author conducted five interviews, and a qualified research assistant conducted one interview. The interviews lasted between 45 and 60 minutes and were conducted via Zoom video conferencing, recorded with participant consent, and transcribed verbatim. Each interview began with two broad questions aligned with our research questions and previous literature: “What was your experience like with your high school counselor?” and “How did your high school counselors influence your well-being and life satisfaction?” The interview protocol with these main interview questions was designed to open the interview and allow participants to answer freely the aspects of their experience that were most important to them (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). We used follow-up questions, creating a semistructured interview format. We gathered data until the first and second authors agreed that data saturation was reached and when no new themes emerged from the interviews.

Data Analysis

Interview transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith & Osborn, 2007). We followed a two-step process in which research participants reflected on their lived experiences with their high school counselors. Then, we analyzed and interpreted these experiences (Hannon et al., 2019; Smith & Osborn, 2007). The first and second authors used the following steps, which are consistent with previous researchers (Hannon et al., 2019) who used this type of qualitative data analysis: (a) open coding for general content analysis to identify themes in each interview transcript, (b) agreement on a final list of themes, (c) development of a structural description of how participants experienced high school counselors, and (d) combination of textural description and structural description of the phenomenon into a narrative to provide the essence of participants’ experiences with their high school counselors (Creswell, 2009; Smith & Osborn, 2007). Following multiple conversations about data analysis, the first and second authors agreed on the final thematic hierarchy as detailed below.

Trustworthiness

We addressed several trustworthiness issues such as dependability, confirmability, neutrality, and member checking. First, to ensure reliability, the first and second authors coded and agreed on emergent themes (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Second, through ongoing consultation and personal reflection, the lead researcher attended to confirmability and neutrality (Creswell, 2009). This process attempted to ensure that bias did not affect data collection or analysis. Removing bias from any research study is difficult, and our efforts were a compelling attempt to reduce the likelihood of bias interfering with the research process. We also engaged in member checking by sending the final list of themes to participants. Each participant confirmed that the themes reflected their lived experiences with their high school counselors. Finally, to assist with transferability, we combined textural and structural descriptions of the phenomenon into a narrative to provide the essence of the participants’ experience with their high school counselors (Creswell, 2009; Smith & Osborn, 2007). From these thick descriptions, readers can make their own decisions regarding how our results transfer to their settings (Hannon et al., 2019).

Results

We present our findings with the following five themes that emerged from inductive data analysis: (a) high academic expectations, (b) advisement, (c) lack of availability and accessibility, (d) no social or emotional support, and (e) limited career development. We provide participants' statements and stories to support this thematic presentation.

High Academic Expectations

Six out of eight participants commented that their high school counselors had high academic expectations. These students reported that such expectations meant school counselors believed in the student’s ability and potential to pursue postsecondary education. Regarding her school counselor’s academic expectations, Anna commented: “Yeah, they definitely did. They pushed us really hard. They wanted everyone to have a plan after high school, either go to the military, work, or go to college.” Zoe shared a similar experience with school counselors' high expectations to pursue postsecondary education:

They would push us really hard to pass our TSI, like really young, like sophomore or freshman year. So, we can start taking college classes. And we don't have to do those college classes when we go to college. And they helped a lot. I took a math class, and I'm good with that now. I felt like they helped to really push you.

Although participants commented that school counselors had high academic expectations, they also shared stories that high school counselors did not provide support to reach those expectations. Ricardo related:

I would say definitely a lot of our counselors expected us to go to college. They really did have high expectations, but it was really interesting. I would say they did have all these expectations. They would always hound us over it. But, when it came to actually assisting . . . and I don't know, in actual practice, they would always fall short.

Advisement

Six out of eight participants reported quality and appropriate advisement, including information about high school graduation and college preparatory courses. These participants appreciated that their school counselors provided important information about what courses they needed to take for graduation and specific tests (e.g., SAT) required for college. Alejandra shared how her school counselor helped her with advisement:

They really break it down and let me know “Okay, so this is what's going to happen, what courses you're going to be needing for the next four years.” And they really go into depth of what they are like, if they're easier or if they're hard.

Ricardo shared a similar experience about the importance of advisement from high school counselors:

They were always very “You have to choose the right classes; you have to choose the right classes.” And they would always give us templates that you would have to follow. So, I would say the classes were probably on par with graduation. They always make sure we follow the template that schools have for high schools to graduate.

Ricardo's representative quote illustrates that school counselors were paramount in helping students identify the courses needed for high school graduation. Finally, Marisol shared an experience with her high school counselor regarding advisement for postsecondary education: “She really helped me a lot with my academics with the colleges I wanted to apply for, what I need to do, like my TSI and my ACT. She's the one who really helped me a lot.”

These participants' stories made clear that school counselors provided high academic expectations and advisement to enroll in college preparatory courses. However, the participants noted that school counselors were not readily available to provide follow-up support and help students reach those expectations.

Lack of Availability

Although participants reported that their high school counselors had high academic expectations and provided quality advisement, they perceived that their school counselors were unavailable for follow-up support. Six out of eight participants recalled experiences where their high school counselors were unavailable. Marisol reported: “Once I hit the senior year with my counselor, I had zero communication with her. She didn't tell me anything about the applications or any stuff like that.” Ricardo shared a similar experience of his high school counselor being unavailable: “The counselors never did a good job of reaching out. . . . They just weren't there. . . . They didn't really try or do anything special or go above and beyond.” Alejandra described the challenges of meeting with her high school counselor:

It was a bit hard to reach them because I would go before their lunch break or after the lunch break, and they would just be very busy, or when I would email them, it would take a while for them to get back to me.

Although most of the students did not comment on why their school counselors were not available, a few shared their perception that their counselor was consumed with “paperwork” or helping a select group of high school students. Leticia offered her perspective about her high school counselor focusing on the top 10% of her graduating class:

I didn't really have any, like, I never met with my counselor or anything. I have liked different counselors throughout my school years . . . but I do think that they would mainly focus on the top 10. . . . I didn't really like going with them, or they never interacted with other kids apart from the top 10.

No Social or Emotional Support

Seven out of eight participants indicated that they did not receive mental health support from high school counselors. These participants reported that they would have appreciated their school counselors providing support to help them improve their mental health, resilience, and other skills to alleviate stress and prepare for postsecondary education. Leticia commented:

I think I've never heard of anyone in my school that actually went to the counselor for help with something like that. They wouldn't have actually helped. I don't see the confidence that I have. I don't think I would see them actually helping someone with mental health and stuff like that.

Alejandra spoke about the importance of school counselors supporting students with mental health:

I would say that at times instead of just wanting to see that the academic and just school, I feel they should just every so often really check up on their students to see if they are really doing okay because at my lowest whenever I had to go to my schedule or anything, it was just focused on school and never “Hey, how are you doing, are you okay, how’re things at home?” So, I feel just asking every once in a while, if they [students] are okay.

Most participants reported stress and anxiety and attended personal counseling while in postsecondary education. These participants indicated that they could have benefitted from mental health support from high school counselors. Marisol shared her perspective about her high school counselor: “I really wish she would have helped me with my stress because I stressed so much, like a lot, for no reason. I wish she would have helped me because it gets me to overthink a lot as well.” Ricardo described not only his experience of not receiving mental health support, but also other students’ negative experiences:

Me personally, none at all. Expanding on that, I have never heard of anyone close to me or anyone in general, especially close to me, going up to them [high school counselors] and asking for mental health help. And nor did they ever talk about it. My freshman year was the only time I heard them say, “Oh, you can also come to us for this”. . . . And anything else, genuinely, the last time I ever heard them bring that up was my freshman year.

Limited Career Development

Seven out of eight participants indicated that they did not receive support with career development from high school counselors. These participants reported that they would have appreciated their school counselors providing support to help them with career development. Ricardo discussed his high school counselor’s lack of support with career development:

Very strongly, I would say, none. They would only say, “Oh, the track endorsements. If you don't like those classes, then maybe that's what they'll be for you.” That's pretty much all they would do to guide us in our careers. Other than that . . . they really did not try to push you into anything or help you out in a career sense.

Leticia provided a similar experience regarding the role of her high school counselors in career development:

I don't think the counselor played a major role. . . . Our counselor wouldn't really talk with that. . . . We did it on our own, like I didn't really have someone there guiding me or asking me. It was just mainly me thinking what I want to do after this.

Discussion

The purpose of the current study was to explore Latinx college students' experiences with their high school counselors. Several significant findings emerged that are consistent with previous research, while other results are novel for Latinx students' high school counseling experiences. First, these students reported that their high school counselors had high expectations of their academic potential. Unlike other studies (e.g., Vela-Gude et al., 2009) that pointed to school counselors having low expectations of Latinx students' intellectual abilities, our findings that Latinx college students perceived high academic expectations from their high school counselors are noteworthy. This finding supports Mau et al.'s (2016) findings that most school counselors have high expectations and positive attitudes toward students. However, although Latinx students in our study reported that their high school counselors had positive academic expectations of their potential to pursue college, they perceived their counselors as unhelpful or unavailable to help them meet those expectations. These findings support those of Vela-Gude et al. (2009) that high school counselors were unavailable to support Latinx students' academic needs.

Another notable finding from this study was that these Latinx students did not receive social/emotional support from high school counselors. Researchers (Gonzalez et al., 2018; Lenz et al., 2020; Tello & Lonn, 2017; Vela, Garcia, et al., 2019) have provided school counselors with resources to support Latinx students’ social/emotional, career, and academic development. Evidence illustrates the benefits of school counselor activities that support Latinx students’ social/emotional development, such as findings from a study by Vela, Garcia, et al. (2019). They explored the impact of a school counselor-led positive psychology intervention on Latina/o adolescents and found that it could help improve these adolescents’ hope and life satisfaction. Although researchers (Vela, Garcia, et al., 2019) have documented the impact of school counselors’ programs and activities to support Latinx students’ social/emotional development, the finding that none of the eight participants in the current study received social/emotional or mental health support from their high school counselors is noteworthy.

In this study, most of the Latinx college student participants reported that they could have benefitted from social/emotional support from their high school counselors because they had to manage stress and other personal issues as they transitioned to postsecondary education. These findings support other researchers who found that high school counselors were unavailable (Chlup et al., 2021; Cook et al., 2021; Vela-Gude et al., 2009) and were unlikely to provide Latinx students with social/emotional support. One explanation for this lack of support is that school counselors face role ambiguity with noncounseling duties and supervision from noncounseling administrators (Blake, 2020; McGowan, 2021), who might not understand their roles and responsibilities. If school counselors and/or principals do not define school counselor roles to be consistent with ASCA guidelines and school counselors are consumed with noncounseling duties, they might not have sufficient time and support to help students with social/emotional development. This might explain why students perceived that their high school counselor had high expectations and provided quality advisement (e.g., one-time conversations to select courses) but did not provide follow-up assistance for academic, social/emotional, or career development. These students’ high school counselors also may have lacked cultural humility and held deficit views regarding Latinx students and families (Malott, 2010; Vela-Gude et al., 2009).

Another significant finding was that seven of the eight Latinx participants reported that their high school counselors did not provide support for career development. These Latinx college students may not have been involved in interventions and programs to facilitate their career development, or such resources may not have been available. Researchers (Bouffard & Savitz-Romer, 2012) and policymakers (ASCA, 2022) have contended that school counselors play an essential role in students' career development with the following responsibilities: help students establish connections between the world of work and school, help students identify their career interests and abilities, help students transition to postsecondary education, and help students cultivate career self-efficacy. Therefore, school counselors' roles and responsibilities to support students' career development are critical for Latinx students who have historically been subjected to factors that negatively affect their career development and choices. Such negative factors include low academic and career expectations (Cavazos, 2009; Cavazos & Cavazos, 2010), curriculum tracking into lower paying careers, lack of college information, and lack of access to mentoring (Cavazos, 2009). Our findings that Latinx students did not receive career development from high school counselors support Parker and Ray's (2017) findings that Latinx students are not satisfied with school counselors' support for career development. Although all the participants in this study navigated high school and pursued postsecondary education without school counselors' assistance and support, they wanted more help with career development from their high school counselors.

Implications for Practice

The most important implication of this study is that school counselors need to be engaged in all activities aligned with ASCA's guidelines. We do not have data as to why these Latinx students perceived their school counselors as unavailable to support academic, social/emotional, and career development, but one potential explanation is role ambiguity with noncounseling duties (Cabell et al., 2021). We recommend that preservice training programs in school counseling and principal preparation collaborate in preparing future school counselors and principals to understand each other's roles and responsibilities aligned with professional guidelines. Geesa et al. (2020) provided a framework for collaborative school principal and school counselor preparation and support. The framework includes adequate preservice preparation in which graduate school counseling and educational leadership students learn about each other's roles and responsibilities. The framework also includes faculty in these programs working together to design classroom experiences for students to learn about such functions and responsibilities and sustainable partnerships through practical research projects to improve collaboration between school counselors and principals. Once future school counselors and principals understand school counselors' roles to support students’ academic, social/emotional, and career development, school counselors must ensure that they inform their students of their roles. Almost all the participants in this study did not understand their high school counselor's role, with some students reporting that their school counselors did not define their roles to the students. School counselors need to let students know and remind them regularly about their essential functions and responsibilities with academic, career, and social/emotional development.

Once school counselors have time allotted to support all students' development, they can design individual and small-group activities aligned with ASCA standards (2019, 2022). School counselors can use subjective well-being interventions (Lenz et al., 2020; Suldo, 2016; Vela, Garcia, et al., 2019) that target students' life satisfaction, happiness, resilience, and hope, which are linked to students’ development. School counselors can adapt existing positive psychology curriculum programs to meet Latinx students' diverse needs and interests (e.g., Lenz et al., 2020; Suldo, 2016). If school counselors cannot implement a 10-week intervention, they can revise the curriculum to meet their schedule, such as a 5-week intervention or shorter individual/group sessions. Participants in this study wanted their high school counselors to support their social/emotional development and their resilience. Rather than wait for Latinx students to come to school counselors with a concern, school counselors could use a positive psychology approach and design programs to cultivate students' subjective well-being.

Finally, researchers (Vega et al., 2016) documented the importance of school counselors collaborating with families in career development. Because none of the participants in this study highlighted that their school counselors worked with families, school counselors need to ensure that they collaborate with Latinx families (Gonzalez et al., 2018) to cultivate students' college and career development. School counselors can design youth participatory action research projects (Edirmanasinghe & Blaginin, 2019) in which Latinx students collaborate with families to understand the research process, understand the world of work, increase career self-efficacy, and inform changes in school policies.

Implications for Research and Limitations

All of the participants in the current study are performing well in postsecondary education but did not perceive their high school counselors as helpful with social/emotional, academic, or career development. First, researchers need to continue to explore Latinx students' experiences with high school counselors. We interviewed college students, asking them to reflect on their recent experiences with high school counselors. Follow-up qualitative studies with current high school students who might not be on track to pursue postsecondary education would be helpful. Second, more research needs to explore why school counselors continue to be unavailable to address Latinx students' social/emotional development, a question the current study did not investigate. Future researchers can design studies to determine what influences counselors' workload responsibilities in schools with culturally diverse students. Finally, quantitative, descriptive studies are essential to examine questions such as what percent of Latinx students receive academic, social/emotional, and career development support from high school counselors. Given that our study was qualitative, we do not know how our results generalize to a larger group of Latinx students. Researchers can design large-scale quantitative studies to explore descriptive questions that will help determine the proportion of Latinx students who do not receive support from high school counselors.

The current study has several limitations. First, we used a qualitative approach with only eight participants; thus, the findings are not generalizable. Second, all participants attended a Hispanic-serving institution with more than 90% Latinx students. Results might not transfer to Latinx students who attended high schools in differing geographic regions where they were not the ethnic majority. Third, we utilized only one data collection method (i.e., interviews) and did not achieve data triangulation. Last, we recruited participants via an invitation email, so results might differ between those who volunteered and those who did not.

Conclusion

School counselors are essential in assisting students with postsecondary education, career opportunities, and social/emotional development, particularly among marginalized populations such as Latinx students. This study’s findings revealed that, while in high school, Latinx college students experienced high academic expectations, quality advisement, lack of availability and accessibility, no social and emotional support, and limited career development from their high school counselors. High school counselors must understand that all students need to receive the information and support to achieve social/emotional development and make educated postsecondary and career decisions.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Javier Cavazos Vela

Author Biographies

Javier Cavazos Vela, Ph.D., is associate dean for research and graduate programs and a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, TX. Email: Javier.cavazos@utrgv.edu

Federico Guerra, Ph.D., is an associate professor and chair at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Elizabeth Zamora is a graduate research assistant and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Erika Perez is a lecturer II and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

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