Diverse school counseling teams are better prepared to serve the wider student body. Not only does representation within school staffing ensure that students from all backgrounds feel comfortable but it also sets a tone of inclusivity.
The entire school population feels more comfortable living within a school community that focuses on diversity, inclusion, and acceptance.
How does this impact play out in real life? In this article, we take an in-depth look at how a diverse counseling team can positively benefit student well-being.
What are the Benefits of Diversity in School Counselors?
None of this is to say that counselors can only be effective when they are dealing with people from their own cultural backgrounds. Minority students mostly interact with people from the majority group. Teachers, peers, and so on. These interactions are (hopefully) usually frictionless.
Counseling can be effective in cross-cultural collaborations. However, when school counseling teams can demonstrate diversity it accomplishes several things right away:
- It sets an inclusive tone: Students who are being served by counselors from a variety of different backgrounds intuitively understand that they have entered an environment that is accepting of difference and committed to helping people regardless of their race, gender, or sexual orientation.
- It aids with communication: In the clinical health environment, hospitals have found that minority patients tend to experience better outcomes when they have the opportunity to interact with people who share aspects of their culture or background. Why? They find it easier to disclose sensitive information, and they are also more often understood and taken seriously. This safe effect is observable in an academic setting. Students may feel more comfortable interacting with and talking to counseling team members who they find relatable.
- It provides the team with a diversity of ideas: Finally, having a diverse counseling team also ensures that the school staff will benefit from a wider range of ideas. People are not defined by their backgrounds but they are influenced by them. Cultural experiences can inform workplace decision-making in small but often impactful ways. The more differences in background a team has, the more it will benefit from a variety of ideas.
It’s important to keep in mind that most student bodies are made up of people from a wide range of different home and cultural environments. Reflecting that diversity in staffing choices is not always easy. Recruitment can be challenging. Understanding where to begin or what to look for can be a barrier to people who have never quite framed their hiring choices in this context before.
Nevertheless, diverse hiring practices in the academic setting are very valuable.
In the next few headings, we take a look at how to prioritize diversity within student counseling teams and the wider school environment.
Explore the Value of a DEI Board
A DEI board stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. These boards generally consist of community members with a vested interest in the organization requiring guidance. For a school that could mean parents or even community members. The DEI Board may provide a wide range of services but they will all involve prioritizing diversity. Depending on what’s needed they may:
- Review external communications to make sure that your school is sending the proper message.
- Look into recruitment efforts that might produce more diverse future hires.
- Identify problem areas within school policy that could be refined.
- Review data concerning academic outcomes for minority group students and look for ways to improve overall outcomes amongst the student body.
A DEI board may also fundraise to connect the school with diversity-related speaking or training events and generally serve in an advisory capacity when major decisions need to be made.
In 2025, there is regrettable confusion and uncertainty surrounding the concept of systemic diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools. DEI boards are still legal in public schools. While it is difficult to determine how policy reforms from the Executive branch will play out over the next several years, current proclamations regarding “Illegal DEI boards,” do not threaten schools that wish to support students of every background.
Appeal to the School Board
School board meetings aren’t exactly known for producing a thrill a minute, and the last thing most people want is to come to work at night to appeal to strangers, it is true that the school board is a highly powerful and influential instrument for producing change.
While they cannot act unilaterally, they may be able to cooperate with or even encourage the district superintendent to prioritize diverse hiring practices.
You may also consider contacting your Parent Teacher Association/Organization. While they cannot directly influence school initiatives the same way that the school board can, most educators understand all too well the power of a few determined parents.
Keep in mind that you don’t need to go through this alone. Speak with your coworkers about ways to increase diversity equity and inclusion in the workplace. You’ll likely find many allies in your cause.
Conclusion
You may be reading this thinking to yourself, “Well that’s fine and good, but I’m just a guidance counselor. How am I supposed to significantly influence my school’s hiring and staffing initiatives?”
The answer, of course, is that you can’t. Not entirely, and not on your own. Diversity in the school environment is something that starts from the top and travels down.
What you can do is something that will most likely be very familiar to you: advocate. Stress the value of diverse and inclusive hiring practices at every opportunity you get. It can also help to learn as much as you can about cultural sensitivity, particularly in the context of groups you serve the most at school.
If you are interested in taking your skills to the next level, consider graduate school. Master’s programs are a great way to learn skills that will help you take your efforts to the next level.
You may find at certain points that the process is not as easy as you would like it to be. That’s ok. It’s important to always keep in mind that diversity, equity, and inclusion are long-term, continuous initiatives. Through commitment and a desire to improve, you can better serve your entire student body, regardless of their background.
For more insights on how diversity impacts mental health, counseling, and education, consider following a health blog that covers these essential topics. Staying informed and engaged will help you contribute to a more inclusive and effective school environment.
