ERIC Number: ED364821
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1993-Apr
Pages: 14
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Commitment to the Profession of School Psychology: An Exploratory Study.
Kruger, Louis J.; And Others
This study focused on professional commitment to school psychology among practicing school psychologists. Burnout, school system reductions, and demographic characteristics were examined with respect to school psychologists' commitment to their profession. The results revealed that burnout had a significant relationship to professional commitment among the 181 school psychologists who participated in the survey. More specifically, the school psychologists who had a lower sense of personal accomplishment at work tended to be less committed to the profession. Surprisingly, professional commitment had only a modest relationship to reductions in school system resources and a statistically nonsignificant relationship to reductions in school psychology staff. Women were significantly more committed to school psychology than were men in the sample. The highest degree attained was unrelated to professional commitment. The findings of this study have implications for recruitment, training, and retention of school psychologists as well as for future research in the area. Instruction in strategies that enhance a sense of work-related personal accomplishment might help strengthen an individual's identification with school psychology and increase his/her motivation to advance the profession. The lower professional commitment of men coupled with their minority status in the profession suggest that it might be important to direct efforts toward recruiting men into school psychology and making the profession more attractive to them as a long-term career. (Author/NB)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists (25th, Washington, DC, April 13-17, 1993). Study supported by the Massachusetts School Psychologists Association.