Employee Diversity in School Psychology - Free Essay Sample

School psychology is an element of psychology concentrating on student needs and support them achieve the best out of education and learning environment. There has been a call for diversity in school psychologists. Among other branches of psychology, school psychology has the lowest number of employees from minority groups such as different races and ethnic backgrounds. Research according to American Psychological Association Center For Workforce Studies shows that the representation of school psychologists in 2009 and 2010 was only 11.8% while 26.4% represented counseling psychology (Jamilia, Scott, Markeda & Shane, 2016). It is evident from the study that there is no diversity in this branch of psychology; hence an action is needed to include employees from different groups. The essay evaluates importance of employee diversity in school psychology, supportive programs and its challenges.

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Importance of Employee Diversity in School Psychology

Employee diversity in school psychology is important because it helps to cater to the needs of students coming from different backgrounds. Two primary elements school psychologists should consider are racial and ethnicity. Their backgrounds affect how they relate and their efficiency in language use. The minority groups in various schools have increased in recent decades diversifying psychological needs (Jamilia et al. 2016). Therefore, psychologists should be aware of their needs such as using the most appropriate language. Research shows that a majority of students selects programs that form the basis of working with individuals from different backgrounds. Therefore, employee diversity in school psychology focuses on supporting the implementation of applications specific to individual needs of different races and ethnicities.

Diverse employees in school psychology outperform teams without. Employee diversity improves the quality of services since the psychologists understand the specific needs of the students, and they work with employees from different backgrounds (Jamilia et al. 2016). It is because successful diverse teams must embrace flexibility and can implement any change for improvement. The employees in school psychology understand that they must learn and appreciate the culture and races of others. Therefore, they are accommodative, and they will implement changes that improve service delivery since it is based on understanding and emphasis on the needs of the students.

Moreover, increasing the number of racial and ethnic school psychologists creates an understanding environment where the psychologists become racial and ethnic-sensitive. They advocate for equality and change the perceptions of the minority groups (Jamilia et al. 2016). It does not only create an exciting environment for interaction but also encourages the employees to research more about the needs of the students focusing on the ability to provide quality mental services to children coming from ethnic and racial backgrounds. Therefore, it initiates extensive research to develop diversified approaches to service delivery.

Employee diversity in school diversity is critical because it helps students to be emotionally stable and achieve the best from education. Employee diversity has a positive impact on educational training. Employees who work with others from diverse teams have proved to have more profound knowledge and skills because of the cultural interactions (Jamilia et al. 2016). Employees from diverse backgrounds such as different backgrounds like different cultures, religious, economic and races improve their learning outcomes and knowledge of diversity which in turn they apply in the workplace. It is because they introduce distinct views and experiences resulting in critical thinking. Therefore, employee diversity in the workplace is essential because it helps to enhance training in developing their knowledge which in turn positively impacts the learning environment.

Employee Diversity Supportive Programs

Schools can implement various programs to encourage workforce diversity in school psychology. The first approach is recruiting students to join the programs and later join school psychologists and professionals and practitioners. For example, the websites of the programs should include multicultural content to attract students from diverse backgrounds to join the programs (Sherrie & Maria, 2016). Such programs focus on recruiting students and prepare them to become school psychologists since they are qualified. For decades, the profession has been understated and most institutions do not consider it necessary in their schools. Therefore, developing programs displaying multicultural content would help to attract students from different backgrounds increasing the need to have school psychologists. It is the responsibility of school administrators to develop and implement diverse practices.

The second recommendation is that institutions should develop and implement recruitment strategies that focus on improving workplace diversity. Increasing student diversity in schools across the US has increased demand for school psychologists. In 2013, 51% of all students in the US represented whites while 24.3% represented Hispanic. 5.13% represented Asians, 15.7% Blacks while 1.07% represented Alaskan Natives (Sherrie & Maria, 2016). Other races represented other races. Therefore, it is evident that cultural diversity is increasing the US; thus the need to use appropriate recruitment strategy to hire more school psychologists. As a result, a recruitment strategy that encourages potential employees from minority groups to apply should be used. For example, the advertisements should state that students from minority groups are encouraged to apply and this is essential since it promotes diversity. The target of recruitment is recruiting from different ethnic and racial groups.

Challenges of Employee Diversity in School Psychology

One potential problem is that students move from class to another regularly interacting with students from other races and cultures. Their course may vary from their ethnic classes leading to a mismatch. The courses might vary slightly impacting the psychological development of the students (Sandra, 2018). It is not possible to separate students from others because of their ethnicity or race, and their interaction process could lead to complications trying to adjust psychologically because of the different approaches applied to mental stability.

Another ethnic mismatch causing challenges in the implementation process is the change of diversity across the transition process. For example, scholars argue about the relevance of increasing or decreasing the numerical representation of an ethnic group from elementary to middle-level school. Poor adjust accounts for the decline in presentation as a result of the mismatch between departing and receiving schools (Sandra, 2018). School psychologists argue that transition is difficult especially to adolescents and researchers in the field of school psychology should research more to develop effective transition policies and representation to avoid such mismatches.

Conclusion

Educational psychology has changed over the years. Diversity is expanding the US schools increasing the demand for school psychology programs. School administrators have to implement comprehensive programs to stabilize the mental psychology of students. Workforce diversity improves outcomes, helps to meet the specific needs of the students, improves training and creates an environment of research. The recruitment programs should encourage students from ethnic and racial minority groups to apply while schools should have plans with multicultural content. The primary challenge of school psychology programs is mismatch depending on the unique needs of each group.

References

Jamilia, B. Scott, G. Markeda, N & Shane, J. (2016). Diversification of School Psychology: Developing an Evidence Base from Current Research and Practice. School of Psychology Quarterly 31(3), 305-310.

Sandra, G. (2018). Race/Ethnicity and Social Adjustment of Adolescents: How (Not if) SchoolDiversity Matters, Educational Psychologist, 53(2), 64-77.

Sherrie, P & Maria, R. (2016). School Psychology Recruitment Research Characteristics andImplications for Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity. School Psychology Quarterly31(3), 311-326.