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Do
Latina/o college students and undocumented Latina/o college students use campus
services, such as counseling or academic services? This is a key question we
want to answer with the survey we are constructing. This past week we had a
long discussion about the research’s conceptual framework, which consists of
both individual and institutional factors that may affect a Latina/o college
student’s experience and persistence in college. This discussion then led us to wonder whether
students are comfortable using these services. What we do know in the
counseling higher education literature is that some racial and ethnic minority students avoid using
counseling centers because they perceive such systems as racist and biased,
think that there is a lack of therapists who are racially or ethically similar
to them, or believe that staff counselors will not share or understand their
worldviews (Leong, Wagner, & Tata, 1995; Atkinson, Jennings & Liongson,
1990).
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| Source: http://www.csun.edu/ |
As a result, university counseling centers
are less likely to see an ethnic and racially underrepresented student use the
counseling center services. The research
we will be conducting will hopefully shed light on the comfort level among
Latina/o college students’ use of these services. The survey will also ask an open-ended
question inquiring what would make the student more comfortable in using these
services. We hope that our research will inform various campus constituents on the needs and services for this
student population.
Sources
Atkinson, D.R., Jennings,
R.G. & Liongson, L. (1990). Minority
students' reasons for not seeking counseling and suggestions for improving services.
Journal of College Student Development,
31(4), 342-350.
Leong,
F. T. L., Wagner, N. S., & Tata, S. P. (1995). Racial and ethnic variations
in help-seeking attitudes. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki,
& C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of
Multicultural Counseling (pp. 415-438). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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