Preferences for Counselor Gender: Students' Sex Role, Other Characteristics, and Type of Problem

A total of 169 students drawn from a large urban university rated their preferences for counselor gender for nine client concerns and completed a sex role inventory and a demographic questionnaire. The preponderance of people who expressed a preference for counselor gender preferred male counselors over female ones for all concerns other than problems with sexual issues. Preferences for male counselors were expressed more often, however, for vocational/academic and social/interpersonal concerns than for personal/intimate problems. Discriminant analyses revealed profiles of persons who preferred male counselors or had no preference. Variables such as subject sex role, age, and race were found to be particularly useful in predicting gender preferences. Results were interpreted in terms of Bem's (1981b) gender-schema theory.