Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Psychology (Ph.D.)

First Advisor

Samuel Ortiz

Second Advisor

Mark Terjesen

Third Advisor

Beverly Greene

Abstract

This study sought to evaluate school psychologists’ perceptions of their graduate training experience in preparing them to work with transgender and other gender minority youth. The quality of graduate training was also examined through a compilation of syllabi. The participant s (N = 193) completed a questionnaire regarding their confidence in working with this population, their perceptions of what contributed to their competency, and information about their graduate programs. The resulting sample of respondents came from all geographic regions in the United States, 91% of whom were currently working in a school setting. A series of regressions found that graduate training accounted for significant variance in respondents’ confidence in working with transgender youth, despite a majority of respondents reporting that they received no graduate training on the subject suggesting that those who did receive training found it valuable. This perception of graduate training contributing to respondents’ competence appears to be mediated by graduation year suggesting that programs are increasing their training efforts over time. Syllabi from identified courses of graduate programs across the United States were coded on a number of factors including number of readings assigned, number of course topics covering transgender content, and course type (e.g., multicultural). Each identified assigned reading was read for pre-identified content to gain an understanding of the breadth and depth of content covered within the course. Significant relationships were found between breadth of content covered and the amount of reading assignments or course topics related to transgender content a course offered. There were significant differences across all three factors when comparing multicultural courses with other types of courses. Few significant differences were found in comparisons made based on a number of programmatic and respondent differences including level of degree obtained, religious affiliation, environment, region, and graduation year. Recommendations for enhancing training relevant to transgender youth are presented

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