2026/07/27 by Kun Wang, Rayna C. Narvaez, Christopher Anders +4
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Counseling Practices and Supervision #Cultural Competency in Health Care #Mental Health Treatment and Access
paper · doi:10.1177/00110000261465026
crossref issued 2026/07/27 · crossref published 2026/07/27 · crossref published-online 2026/07/27 · openalex publication_date 2026/07/27 · crossref created 2026/07/28 · openalex created_date 2026/07/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29 · crossref deposited 2026/07/30 · crossref indexed 2026/07/30
Academic advisors’ attention to culture is important for graduate student success, yet cultural processes in advising remain understudied. This study extends the multicultural orientation (MCO) framework—previously examined in therapy and clinical supervision—to the advisory relationship. Participants included 343 doctoral advisees and 187 advisors from 45 APA-accredited counseling psychology programs in the United States. Multilevel models tested associations between advisory alliance and advisees’ perceptions of advisor MCO at within-advisor, between-advisor, and between-faculty levels. Cultural humility and cultural comfort were positively associated with advisory alliance across all three levels. Advisees reported stronger alliances when they perceived their advisor as more culturally humble and comfortable than did other advisees of the same advisor, when their advisor was rated more positively than other advisors, and when their faculty was perceived as more culturally humble and comfortable than those in other programs. Higher advisor cultural opportunities also predicted stronger alliance. Findings support attending to culture in advising and inform future training and research.