Doctoral Students' Knowledge of Educators' Problems of Professional Competency

We surveyed doctoral students in APA-accredited programs (clinical psychology PhD, counseling psychology PhD, and clinical psychology PsyD; n = 939) and CACREP-accredited counseling/counselor education programs PhD (n = 345) to investigate their knowledge of educators' problems of professional competency (PPC). Findings suggest the majority of respondents are aware of educators with PPC and are affected by these interactions. Areas such as educators' unprofessional behavior (e.g., dishonesty, excessive tardiness, class absences), inadequate supervision skills, inappropriate boundaries, and inability to regulate emotions were cited by all groups as problematic while being culturally insensitive or culturally incompetent was a more prominent problem experienced by psychology doctoral students. Doctoral students reported that they had feelings of resentment toward educators who displayed PPC and viewed these educators as disrupting the learning environment in the classroom, interfering with their ability to concentrate and complete their own work, and increasing their workload. Limited differences between programs adhering to the scientist-practitioner model and programs following the practitioner-scholar model were noted.