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The Professional Counselor
Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 175–184
http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org
© 2013 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates
doi:10.15241/rla.3.3.175
Identifying Role Diffusion in School Counseling
Randall L. Astramovich
Wendy J. Hoskins
Antonio P. Gutierrez
Kerry A. Bartlett
Role ambiguity in professional school counseling is an ongoing concern despite recent advances with
comprehensive school counseling models. The study outlined in this article examined role diffusion as a possible
factor contributing to ongoing role ambiguity in school counseling. Participants included 109 graduate students
enrolled in a CACREP-accredited counseling program at a large southwestern university. Findings suggest that
providing direct counseling services is the most unique and least diffused role for today’s school counselors. The
authors also review implications for professional school counselors and recommendations for future research.
Keywords: school counselors, role ambiguity, role diffusion, comprehensive school counseling, direct counseling
services
Randall L. Astramovich is an Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Wendy J. Hoskins is an Associate Professor
at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Antonio P. Gutierrez is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Kerry
A. Bartlett, NCC, is a School Counselor at Basic High School, Henderson, NV. Correspondence can be addressed to Randall L.
Astramovich, Counselor Education Program, University of Nevada Las, Vegas, 4505 Maryland Pkwy, Box 453014, Las Vegas, NV 89154-
3014, randy.astramovich@unlv.edu.
School counselor roles and functions have been examined by scholars for many decades (Astramovich,
Hoskins, & Coker, 2013; Burnham & Jackson, 2000; Gysbers 2004; Herr, 2003; Lieberman, 2004; Myrick,
1987). As professional school counseling evolved, standards of practice were developed as a means for
solidifying professional identity and to help guide the specic duties expected of school counselors (Dahir,
Burnham, & Stone, 2009; Dollarhide & Saginak, 2012). School counseling as a distinct profession has
proliferated in the 21st century, yet inconsistencies in school counselor roles and functions have continued
to challenge the eld (Astramovich, Hoskins, & Bartlett, 2010; Culbreth, Scarborough, Banks-Johnson,
& Solomon, 2005). This article denes and presents the results of a study of role diffusion among school
counselors and calls for renewed emphasis on the professional counseling function of today’s school
counselors.
Historically, several school counseling models have been discussed in the literature, each emphasizing
various school counselor roles. Myrick (1987) and Gysbers and Henderson (2006) created developmental
guidance models for school counseling that emphasized individual and small-group counseling services,
guidance lessons, individual planning, and system support duties. Schmidt (2003) promoted an essential
services model of school counseling that focused on the individual and group counseling, appraisal,
coordination, and consultation roles of the counselor. Campbell and Dahir (1997) presented a set of national
standards for school counseling programs that emphasized school counselor duties in the academic, career and
personal-social domains. Based on the work of Campbell and Dahir (1997), the American School Counselor
Association (ASCA, 2003) published its initial National Model for school counseling programs. Later,
Brown and Trusty (2005) suggested a strategic comprehensive school counseling model that emphasized the
developmental and preventive roles of the school counselor along with a focus on supporting student academic
achievement. Most recently, ASCA (2012) published an updated edition of its National Model that emphasized
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the school counselor’s role in the implementation of a school counseling core curriculum, individual student
planning, and responsive services, including individual, group, and crisis counseling. A
common goal of these
organizational frameworks for school counseling programs was to identify appropriate roles and duties for
school counselors.
Models of school counseling were developed in part to strengthen and clarify the professional identity of
school counselors, yet the specic roles of school counselors in educational systems have continued to be
debated and rened (ASCA, 2012; Keys, Bemak, & Lockhart, 1998; Whiston, 2002, 2004). During the past
decade, the Transforming School Counseling Initiative (TSCI; The Education Trust, 2009) and ASCA’s (2012)
National Model have been discussed extensively in the school counseling literature. In contrast to earlier
school counseling models, both the ASCA National Model and TSCI placed an increased emphasis on the
academic support and advocacy roles of professional school counselors, while minimizing the role of providing
direct counseling services to students (Astramovich et al., 2010; Grimmett & Paisley, 2008). For example, the
ASCA (2012) National Model indicated that individual counseling in a therapeutic mode is not considered
an appropriate duty for school counselors. Accordingly, it has been suggested that the roles and functions of
school counselors promoted by these recent models have become less clearly focused on counseling, potentially
leading to a weakened professional identity for school counselors (Bringman, Mueller, & Lee, 2010;
Whiston,
2004). In addition, a broader philosophical difference—whether school counselors are considered to be
educators or professional counselors or both—also has fueled the ongoing debate over school counselor roles
(Paisley, Ziomek-Daigle, Getch, & Bailey, 2007).
With the myriad duties suggested by different school counseling models, role research in school counseling
has often attempted to clarify what duties are expected of school counselors and how these should be prioritized.
Some researchers have focused on views of educational administrators about the appropriate duties of school
counselors. Amatea and Clark (2005) found that elementary, middle and high school principals preferred
school counselors to focus on leadership, consulting, and providing individual and small-group counseling,
as well as classroom guidance to students. Similarly, Zalaquett (2005) and Zalaquett and Chatters (2012)
found that principals prefer counselors to focus on providing direct counseling services to students as well as
crisis intervention, coordination and consultation. Other researchers have examined the views of practicing
school counselors about their roles and duties. Nelson, Robles-Pina, and Nichter (2008) found that high school
counselors reported spending much of their time in non-counseling duties such as class scheduling, thus having
less than preferred time to provide counseling, consultation and coordination services to students. In another
study, Walsh, Barrett, and DePaul (2007) found that elementary school counselors spent only about one-third
of their time in responsive counseling services, with the remainder of their time spent in guidance, individual
planning, and system support activities. From another perspective, Astramovich and Loe (2006) compared
pre-service teachers’ views of the roles of school counselors and school psychologists and found that school
counselors were considered more likely to help students with career development while school psychologists
were viewed as more likely to help students with personal-social skills. Overall, ndings from role research
studies suggest that, despite advances in school counseling models, many school counselors continue to
experience role ambiguity and role stress in their professional practice (Astramovich et al., 2010; Culbreth et al.,
2005; Lieberman, 2004; Pyne, 2011).
Although role ambiguity has been identied as a signicant concern of school counselors, the authors
hypothesize that a preceding factor—termed as role diffusion—may be a major factor contributing to role
ambiguity among professional school counselors. Role diffusion is dened by the authors as the process of
assuming or being appointed to roles and duties that individuals from other elds or specialties are equally
qualied to perform in the work environment. For example, role diffusion occurs when a school counselor is
assigned by an administrator to be responsible for school-wide achievement testing—something that teachers,
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teacher specialists, or even school registrars may be equally competent to organize. Although a school counselor
is certainly capable of coordinating achievement testing, such a duty does not draw upon the unique graduate-
level training the professional school counselor has to offer, and thus the unique role of the school counselor
is diffused, potentially leading to role ambiguity. The authors therefore believe that role ambiguity among
school counselors may be a consequence of role diffusion. Furthermore, role diffusion may be unintentionally
reinforced by school counseling models that do not emphasize the unique counseling roles of the school
counselor in educational settings.
Research Questions
Considering the continued discourse over school counselor professional identity, role clarity and our
hypothesis about how role ambiguity may be perpetuated, the researchers decided to explore for potential role
diffusion among typically suggested school counseling duties. The following primary research questions were
developed for this study:
1. Of the typical duties suggested for school counselors, which duties are the most unique to the role of
the counselor (i.e., least role diffused)?
2. Of the typical duties suggested for school counselors, which duties are the least unique to the role of
the counselor (i.e., most role diffused)?
3. What other school personnel are identied as equally qualied to perform various duties suggested
for professional school counselors?
Method
Participants
A sample of 109 master’s-level graduate counseling students at a large southwestern university participated
in the study. Students were enrolled in either the school counseling or clinical mental health counseling
programs, both of which hold Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
(CACREP, 2009) accreditation. The sample was comprised of 97 (89%) females and 12 (11%) males with
a mean age of 28.9 (SD = 6.9) years. Ethnicity of the participants included 81 (74%) Caucasian, 13 (12%)
Latina/Latino, 4 (4%) Asian American, 3 (3%) African American, and 6 (5%) representing other or multiple
ethnicities. Regarding area of specialization, 54 (49%) participants were school counseling majors and 55 (51%)
were mental health counseling majors. In addition, the participants had completed a mean of 26.0 (SD = 17.4)
graduate credit hours in counseling.
Instrument and Procedure
An instrument was developed by the researchers to explore the primary research questions, based partly
on school counselor duties suggested in the ASCA (2012) National Model. The instrument identied potential
school counselor duties grouped within ve domains including Academic, Career, Personal-Social, Direct
Counseling Services, and Support Functions. For each domain, ve stem items were developed identifying
specic duties commonly recommended of school counselors, resulting in a 25-item instrument with ve
domain scales.
For the Academic scale, the ve stem items were drawn from the language in the ASCA (2012) National
Model and included helping students to (1) identify attitudes and behaviors that lead to successful learning; (2)
learn and apply critical thinking skills; (3) apply the study skills necessary for academic success; (4) become a
self-directed and independent learner; and (5) apply knowledge of aptitudes and interests to goal setting.
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For the Career scale, the ve stem items were drawn from the language in the ASCA (2012) National Model
and included helping students to (1) develop skills to locate, evaluate and interpret career information; (2)
demonstrate knowledge about the changing workplace; (3) identify personal skills, interests, and abilities and
relate them to career choices; (4) assess and modify educational plans to support career goals; and (5) describe
the effect of work on lifestyle.
For the Personal-Social scale, the ve stem items were drawn from the language in the ASCA (2012)
National Model and included helping students to (1) identify and express feelings; (2) use effective
communication skills; (3) learn how to make and keep friends; (4) learn how to cope with peer pressure; and (5)
learn coping skills for managing life events.
The researchers developed ve items for the Direct Counseling Services scale, including (1) providing
individual counseling services; (2) providing small-group counseling services; (3) assessing student concerns
for appropriate community referrals; (4) providing play therapy to elementary-aged children; and (5) providing
activity-based counseling to older children and adolescents.
Finally, the researchers developed ve items for the Support Functions scale, including (1) reviewing or
changing students’ class schedule; (2) coordinating and administering achievement tests, (3) participating in
lunch duty/hall duty/bus duty; (4) substitute teaching classes for absent teachers; and (5) helping administrators
with principal’s ofce duties.
For each of the 25 items, participants were asked to indicate which of eight professionals typically working
in school settings would be qualied to perform the specic duty.
The eight professionals from which
participants could select included school counselors, school psychologists, teachers, social workers, principals,
paraprofessionals, registrars and administrative assistants. For each item, participants could select one or more
of the eight professionals who would be qualied to perform the specic duty.
The items were presented in a
random order and not grouped by the ve domains.
A Cronbach’s alpha coefcient was calculated for each of the ve scales to evaluate the reliability of the
instrument. Internal consistency reliability is an index of the consistency of participant responses on items
purporting to measure the same construct. Greater consistency in responses signies that there was less error in
the measurement of the purported construct(s) of interest, which is desirable. High reliability also suggests that
the scale is in fact measuring what it is intended to measure—that is, construct validity. Results indicated that
the instrument had acceptable reliability on the Academic (α = .86), Career (α = .86), Personal-Social (α = .81),
Direct Counseling Services (α = .77), and Support Functions (α = .80) scales.
For each item, a total item score was created by summing the number of school professionals identied as
competent to perform the duty (range 0–8). Table 1 lists the means for each of the 25 items, sorted from most to
least role-diffused. Next, overall domain scores were calculated by summing the mean item scores for the ve
items in the particular domain, resulting in a possible domain score ranging from 0–40. T
able 2 lists the means
for each of the ve domains, sorted by most to least role-diffused. Finally, Table 3 lists the Pearson’s Product-
Moment Correlation coefcients of the role diffusion ratings across the ve domains. Prior to data analysis,
the data were tested for requisite assumptions and screened for potential outliers. If not eliminated, outliers
undermine the trustworthiness of the data because they unduly inuence the group means and thus the normality
of the data—that is, by affecting skewness and kurtosis. The data screening procedures yielded no outliers.
Moreover, the data met all assumptions including normality (skewness and kurtosis values were within range),
homogeneity of error variances and sphericity. Thus, data analysis proceeded without any adjustments.
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Table 1
Individual Item Means from Most to Least Role Diffusion
Domain Item M SD
Support Participate in lunch duty/hall duty/bus duty 5.50 2.57
Personal-Social Learn how to make and keep friends 4.76 1.98
Personal-Social
Use effective communication skills
4.61
1.95
Academic Identify attitudes and behaviors that lead to successful learning 4.27 1.62
Personal-Social
Learn how to cope with peer pressure
4.27
1.74
Personal-Social Identify and express feelings 4.25 1.65
Career Develop skills to locate, evaluate and interpret career information 4.23 1.95
Support
Help administrators with principal’s office duties
4.21
2.10
Career
Identify personal skills, interests and abilities, and relate them to career
choices
3.94
1.75
Academic Become a self-directed and independent learner 3.90 1.67
Career Describe the effect of work on lifestyle 3.86 1.68
Support Review or change students’ class schedule 3.86 2.44
Support Coordinate and administer achievement tests 3.79 2.22
Career
Demonstrate knowledge about the changing workplace
3.74
1.99
Academic Apply the study skills necessary for academic success 3.72 1.71
Academic Learn and apply critical thinking skills 3.70 1.67
Academic Apply knowledge of aptitudes and interests to goal setting 3.69 1.71
Career Assess and modify educational plans to support career goals 3.64 1.50
Direct Counseling
Assess student concerns for appropriate community referrals
3.53
1.50
Support Substitute teaching classes for absent teachers 3.27 2.17
Personal-Social Learn coping skills for managing life events 3.24 1.42
Direct Counseling Provide activity-based counseling to older children and adolescents 2.82 0.80
Direct Counseling Provide small-group counseling services 2.73 0.81
Direct Counseling
Provide individual counseling services
2.54
0.87
Direct Counseling Provide play therapy to elementary-aged children 2.50 1.08
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Table 2
Total Means for the Five Domains from Most to Least Role Diffusion
Domain M SD
Personal-Social 21.13 6.62
Support
20.63
8.77
Career
19.41
7.40
Academic
19.28
6.78
Direct Counseling*
14.12
3.82
Note. Direct counseling items were rated as significantly less role-diffused than the other domains. * p < .05.
Table 3
Zero-Order Correlation Matrix of the Role Diffusion Ratings Across the Five Domains
Variable 1 2 3 4 5
1. Academic
—
.82**
.75**
.67**
.51**
2. Career
—
.71**
.62**
.45**
3. Personal-Social
—
.51**
.55**
4. Support
—
.37**
5. Direct Counseling
—
Note. N = 109; ** p < .01.
Graduate counseling students enrolled in two sections of a course on Ethics and Legal Issues in Counseling
and in two sections of a pre-practicum course at a large southwestern university were invited to participate in
the study. After a review of informed consent, copies of the instrument were provided to participants and the
researchers were available to answer questions as needed. A total of 120 students were eligible to participate,
with a response rate of 109 (91%) completed instruments.
Results
Least and Most Role-Diffused School Counselor Duties
In order to address the rst two research questions, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted
to test for differences between the levels of role diffusion among the ve domains. Ratings of role diffusion
differed signicantly across the ve domains (F (1, 107) = 7.81, p < .0005, η
2
= .63) indicating a large strength
of association between the variables under study. More specically, the results suggest that the ve domains
account for approximately 63% of the variability in the ratings of role diffusion. Overall, results indicated
that Direct Counseling was rated as signicantly less role diffused (i.e., requiring more unique skills) than the
other four domains (see Table 2 for means). Fisher’s Protected t-test analyses with the Bonferroni adjustment
to obviate the family-wise Type I error rate ination were requested to more adequately ascertain differences
across the ve domains with respect to role diffusion ratings. Results demonstrated that the ratings between
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Direct Counseling and the four other domains were statistically signicantly different (all p-values < .05, effect
size r ranging from –.42 to –.54, indicating moderate to large strengths of association between variables). No
other comparison reached statistical signicance (p < .05).
Other School Personnel Qualied to Perform Suggested School Counselor Duties
Addressing the third research question, a one-way ANOVA was conducted to test for differences between the
eight school personnel and qualications to perform duties in each of the ve domains. There were statistically
signicant differences in the qualications to perform duties in each of the ve domains between the eight
school personnel (F (4,28) = 13.50, p < .05, η
2
= .12) indicating a moderate strength of association between the
school personnel and qualications. Thus, the eight school personnel roles account for 12% of the variability in
qualications to perform the duties of the ve domains.
Results demonstrated that teachers, school psychologists, social workers and principals are equipped to
perform school counselor duties within the Academic and Personal-Social domains, whereas administrative
assistants, registrars and paraprofessionals are ill-equipped. Within the Career domain, teachers, school
psychologists and social workers are equipped to fulll school counselor duties and administrative assistants,
registrars, paraprofessionals, principals and school psychologists were perceived as ill-equipped. All roles—
that is, administrative assistants, school psychologists, paraprofessionals, principals, social workers, registrars
and teachers—are equipped to perform school counselor duties in the Support domain. Finally, only school
psychologists and social workers are rated as being equipped to perform school counselor duties in the Direct
Counseling domain whereas all other roles are not.
Discussion
Findings from this study suggest that professional school counselors’ least diffused and thus most unique
role in the school setting is in the provision of direct counseling services to students. These results coincide
with research on principals’ views of the preferred roles for school counselors (e.g., Amatea & Clark, 2005;
Zalaquett & Chatters, 2012) and the preferred roles of professional school counselors (e.g. Nelson, Robles-
Pina, & Nichter, 2008). Interestingly, these results are in direct contrast to the ASCA (2012) National Model,
which suggests that individual counseling with students in a “therapeutic mode” is an inappropriate function
of professional school counselors. Of the eight school personnel roles examined in this study, only school
psychologists and school social workers were rated as equally competent as school counselors to provide
counseling services to students. However, because school psychologists and school social workers are each
employed at less than a third of the rate of school counselors nationally (U.S. Department of Labor, 2012),
school counselors remain the most likely professionals to provide direct counseling services to students in
educational settings.
School counselor roles in the Personal-Social, Academic, Career, and Support domains were found to be
signicantly diffused among the other seven school personnel identied in this study. School psychologists and
school social workers were rated equally capable as school counselors to perform duties in these four domains
as well, suggesting that the roles of school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers may
have a signicant degree of overlap and possible duplication. Another interesting nding was that teachers
were rated as equally competent to perform duties suggested of school counselors in all domains except Direct
Counseling. Because teachers are typically trained at the bachelor’s level, it may be inferred that work in the
Personal-Social, Academic, and Career domains may not necessarily require graduate-level training. Thus, role
diffusion may be perpetuated by school counselors who focus primarily on duties that do not draw on their more
advanced skills.
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Recommendations for Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators
Given the persistence of role ambiguity and role stress among school counselors, addressing role diffusion
at the individual school, district, state and national levels may signicantly strengthen the professional identity
of school counselors. Thus, school counselors must regularly and systematically advocate for their professional
identity by proactively informing key constituents about the counseling services the school counselor provides
to students.
Furthermore, state and national professional school counseling organizations must nd ways to promote the
unique counseling skill set of their members and must help elevate the work of professional school counselors
by emphasizing their graduate-level counseling training, rather than developing models and standards that lead
school counselors to focus on duties that other school personnel are qualied to perform. Kaplan and Gladding
(2011) stressed the need for all counseling specialties to converge around a common counseling identity as
a means for helping the public to understand the appropriate roles of professional counselors. In light of the
results of this study, their call seems especially signicant for school counselors who have struggled for decades
to establish a consistent professional identity.
Counselor education programs may need to critically assess the utility of training future school counselors in
models, including the ASCA (2012) National Model, which do not support school counselors providing direct
counseling services and which may consequently foster role diffusion and role ambiguity. The development of
Comprehensive School Based Counseling Centers as suggested by Astramovich et al. (2010) may provide an
alternative approach to existing models and could help promote the unique counseling expertise of professional
school counselors. Therefore, the graduate-level training of school counselors should emphasize the
development of individual and group counseling skills to help prepare future counselors to work effectively with
a wide range of student concerns. In addition, counselor education programs must help new school counselors
develop skills to advocate for the provision of direct counseling services in schools. Finally, counselor education
programs must help new school counselors to foster a strong counseling-focused professional identity that is
distinguishable in practice from other personnel in educational settings.
Limitations and Future Research Recommendations
Limitations of this study should be noted. First of all, the sample comprised graduate counseling students at
one university, and therefore, caution must be taken in generalizing the ndings to other populations, including
working school counselors. Unlike practicing school counselors, school and mental health graduate counseling
students may have differing perspectives about the roles of school counselors. In addition, the study focused on
duties as suggested by the ASCA (2012) National Model domains, which may not reect the actual day-to-day
practice of professional school counselors at various school settings nationally.
Future role diffusion research could be strengthened by sampling currently practicing school counselors as
well as school administrators who oversee and evaluate school counselor performance. In addition, examining
role diffusion at the elementary, middle and high school levels may help identify unique challenges faced by
school counselors in each school setting. Lastly, role studies that help clarify and distinguish the role of the
school counselor from the roles of school social workers and school psychologists may help further strengthen
the identity of professional school counselors.
Conclusion
Although role diffusion and role ambiguity may have negatively affected the profession of school counseling
in the past, today’s professional school counselors and school counseling organizations have opportunities to
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clarify and advance the school counselor’s role. Focusing on the unique counseling skills of school counselors
may be a critical next step for the profession. Ultimately, by addressing the effects of role diffusion, school
counselors can distinguish and strengthen their professional identity and therefore have a more signicant
impact on the children and adolescents they serve.
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