r concern to this particular program (as state din school/department bulletins, memos, and so forth) is determining whether or not students will seek counseling based on counselor gender conceptions and perceptions of preference. This study fulfills a practical need in that it provides data relevant to this determination.
This study examined for differences in school counselor gender preferences associated with student gender differences in a sample of adolescents attending a large public school in Portland, Michigan.
The research problem can be broken down into a specific purpose. This purpose is empirical documentation of whether male and female secondary students significantly differ in five discrete areas of school counselor gender preferences. The five assessed areas are preferences for male or female counselors when talking about student concerns related to: (1) needing more friends; (2) being bothered or harassed by others; (3) getting others' affection and approval; (4) being afraid to talk to others; and (5) getting along with others.
As stated earlier, the literature on adolescent gender preferences in school counseling is sparse. Therefore, existing research did not provide sufficient information for the formulation of directional hypotheses. For this reason, all hypotheses tested in this study were stated as null theses. These null hypotheses were:
Null Hypothesis 1 - Preferences for male or female counselors when talking about concerns related to needing more friends will not be found to significantly differ as a function of whether students are male or female.
Null Hypothesis 2 - Preferences for male or female counselors when talking about concerns related to being bothered or harassed by others will not be found to significant differ as a function of whether students are male or female.
Null Hypothesis 3 - Preferences for male or female counselors when talking about concerns related to getting othe...