Role of School Counselors and the Factors that Affect their Practice in India

This article summarizes the responses of the sample of Indian school-based counselors who contributed data to the international factor analysis that identified five dimensions of practice. Forty-five complete surveys (i.e., the International Survey of School Counselor's Activities) were obtained from Indian school-based counselors most of whom had a Master's degree in counseling psychology. Counseling Services, Advocacy and Systemic Improvement, Preventive Programs, and Educational and Career Planning were all considered important components of role. Activities related to the Administrative Role were considered as inappropriate. Compared to the other countries, the scores from India suggest that the school-based counselors gave relatively high importance to Counseling Services, Advocacy and Systemic Improvement, Preventive Programs, and Administrative Role. These results are interpreted with respect to important contextual factors operating in India which influence the work of counselors in school.