Further Manifestations of the MOMM Phenomenon: Relevant Data on Editorial Board Appointments and Membership Composition

A frequent response to papers by John Horan and Leo Goldman attributes the predominance of graduates and employees from MOMM institutions (the University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, the University of Maryland, and the University of Missouri) in all Division 17 governance structures to greater achievement. Others argue that given alternative baselines, MOMM graduates and employees (MOMMs) might prove to be underrepresented. In this study, data on the scholarly productivity of MOMMs and outsiders, at the time of their appointments to the editorial boards of the Journal of Counseling Psychology and The Counseling Psychologist, suggest that outsiders are more productive than MOMMs and that there is a significant disposition to appoint relatively unpublished MOMMs to JCP’s editorial board. Our data further indicate that outsiders are indeed underrepresented; moreover, an unexpected and conspicuous decline in their membership percentage between 1973 and 1989 is an ominous indicator of Division 17’s organizational health.