RACIALIZED STUDENTS IN GRADUATE COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY: INVISIBLE WORK AND INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES

Abstract

This study uses institutional ethnography (IE) to examine how racialized and minoritized counselling psychology graduate students experience and perform invisible work within the online Master of Counselling program at Athabasca University. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with six racialized and minoritized students who had completed at least one year in the program and a text analysis of seven institutional documents, including admissions policies, the student handbook, and student support resources. Findings show that institutional texts and program structures shape student learning, participation, and professional identity formation. They also produce invisible work, including interpretive, relational, and emotional labour. This labour is often unevenly distributed among students with intersecting marginalized identities. The study shows how institutional commitments to equity, cultural competency, and social justice can reproduce inequities in practice and limit equitable participation. It offers insights for more equitable and accountable curriculum design, program structures, and institutional practices in counsellor education.