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Abstract
Due to the rapidly changing demographics of the United States over the years, the field of psychology has drawn attention to multicultural issues and the importance of training programs needing to provide training experiences that facilitate the development of culturally competent counselors (Ahmed, Wilson, Henriksen, & Jones, 2011). The goal of this study was to look at how one particular graduate program at a Hispanic-Serving Institution in San Antonio, Texas addresses multicultural competence in its students, who are predominately Latinx, to help meet the mental health needs of a traditionally underserved Latinx population. Specifically, the researcher examined (1) whether there was a relationship between participants ethnicity and levels of multicultural competence; and (2) whether ethnic identity, additional multicultural coursework, and greater exposure to racial/ethnic minorities predicted higher levels of multicultural competence. The sample for this study consisted of 80 participants who were graduates of Our Lady of the Lake Universitys Masters in Psychology program. Participants included 67 females and 13 males, 51 of whom identified as Latinx, ranging in age from 25 to 66. All participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI), and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM). The present study found that there were no differences in regards to ethnicity and multicultural counseling competencies. Results also found that ethnic identity and number of multicultural courses predicted higher levels of multicultural competence as measured by the MCI total score and knowledge subscale, but exposure to working with racial/ethnic minorities was not a predictor. Ethnic identity was found to be a significant predictor of higher levels of multicultural competence when it came to multicultural skills, awareness, and relationship, but number of multicultural courses and exposure working with ethnic minorities was not a predictor in these subscales. Most studies regarding multicultural competence have been conducted using data from a predominately White student population. This study further adds to the literature regarding multicultural competence with a more diverse sample, as more than half of the participants self-identified as Latinx or Hispanic.