Loading...
“THEY’RE NOT REACHING STUDENTS THE WAY THEY WANT TO BE REACHED”: A STUDY OF COLLEGE STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES WITH THE CLIMATE AND USE OF CAMPUS MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Citations
Altmetric:
Genre
Thesis/Dissertation
Date
2025-08
Advisor
Committee member
Group
Department
Sociology
Permanent link to this record
Collections
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
DOI
https://doi.org/10.34944/6y98-sa40
Abstract
While college students use mental health services more than in previous decades, inequalities in service use between Black and White students persist (Hunt et al. 2015; Lipson et al. 2019). In my dissertation research, I use qualitative and quantitative methods to examine how institutional-level factors may shape racial inequities despite the increased availability of college mental health services. With my first set of research questions, I take a top-down approach, examining how college mental health programs serve students of different races. I conducted ten in-depth interviews with administrators and mental health providers to assess how the consideration of race differences may shape the delivery of college mental health services. With my second set of questions, I take a bottom-up approach, asking how Black and White students perceive their college, its climate, and its mental health services and how these perceptions impact their service use. I addressed these questions through 43 in-depth student interviews and quantitative analysis of the Healthy Minds Study. In my findings, I show that despite efforts to expand mental health resources, institutional leaders do not adequately consider race and racial diversity in their decision-making processes about mental health services. This contributes to Black students’ decreased likelihood of using campus mental health resources compared to their White peers. My work demonstrates the organizational and individual-level mechanisms by which racial inequalities in postsecondary institutions and mental healthcare persist.
Description
Citation
Citation to related work
Has part
ADA compliance
For Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, including help with reading this content, please contact scholarshare@temple.edu