The qualitative research team hopes to provide additional insight regarding the experience of social class privilege and classism in counseling programs by interviewing current or recently graduated master's students. The study intends to explore the following research question: “What are the lived experiences of social class privilege and classism for master’s level counseling students?" As such, current master's level counseling students who are enrolled in or have completed practicum and who identify with experiencing social class privilege and classism in counseling programs will be invited to participate in this study.

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This study will utilize a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to illuminate the lived experiences of master’s-level students in counseling programs as related to social classism, thereby bridging the gap in the current literature. Hermeneutic phenomenology allows for exploring, interpreting, and understanding the experiences of the participants (Heidegger, 2013). Interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) is a specific methodology within qualitative research that allows for this hermeneutical approach (Smith et al., 2009). As such, IPA is an appropriate approach for interpreting the meaning master’s level counseling students ascribe to their experiences of social class privilege and classism within counselor education training.  

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