Students' perceptions of their future professional behavior

Doctoral students from university-based clinical, counseling, and school psychology programs responded to items that asked how willing they would be to engage in various professional activities and the reasons for their choices. The data were factor analyzed; five subscales resulted that were analyzed in a one-way MANOVA. Results indicated similarities between clinical and counseling for therapy and medically related disorders (Subscale 1) and specialized assessments and techniques (Subscale 4); and similarities among all three specialties on academic activities (Subscale 5). Traditional differences were also found: school students were more likely to endorse activities related to children and schools (Subscale 2); whereas counseling students were more likely to endorse activities related to consultation, educational—vocational counseling, and evaluation (Subscale 3). The results support current similarities and historical differences among the specialties and raise questions regarding education of and future career opportunities for psychologists.