School Counselor Candidates’ Shared Beliefs and Experiences Regarding the Rural Setting

Students in rural schools face multiple challenges such as lower funding, shrinking career opportunities, and lower educational attainment. People in rural areas are marginalized through negative perceptions and stereotypes in a form of prejudice called ruralism. School counselors must be trained to recognize biases about people from rural areas and to understand the unique challenges present in rural areas so that they address the challenges in the lives of rural school students. The authors present the findings of a qualitative study on the beliefs and lived experiences of school counselor candidates regarding the rural school context. The authors suggest ways school counseling education programs can better prepare students for their work in rural areas.