As an antiracist problematic, Whiteness was used to better understand the persistence of access disparities to college counseling centers for students of color. This study explored the question, “How do experiences of Whiteness impact access to mental health care for domestic, undergraduate White students and students of color at their respective college counseling centers?” Semi-structured interviews were completed with 6 undergraduates (three White students and three students of color). Data analysis was completed through three successive, iterative cycles of coding: value systems, color-blind ideologies, and Whiteness. The first two cycles of coding informed the last cycle. Five themes of Whiteness emerged: relational, advantage, property, power, and individualism.
Cite this paper
Klug, J. and Anderson, S. K. (2023). The Role of Whiteness in Access Disparities in College Counseling Services. Open Access Library Journal, 10, e814. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1110814.
Hunt, J.B., Eisenberg, D., Lu, L. and Gathright, M. (2015) Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health Care Utilization among US College Students: Applying the Institution of Medicine Definition of Health Care Disparities. Academic Psychiatry, 39, 520-526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-014-0148-1
LeViness, P., Gorman, K., Braun, L., Koenig, L. and Bershad, C. (2020) The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors Annual Survey: 2019.
https://www.aucccd.org/assets/documents/Survey/2019%20AUCCCD%20Survey-2020-05-31-PUBLIC.pdf
Hayes, J.A., Youn, S.J., Castonguay, L.G., Locke, B.D., McAleavey, A.A. and Nordberg, S. (2011) Rates and Predictors of Counseling Center Use among College Students of Color. Journal of College Counseling, 14, 105-116.
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1882.2011.tb00266.x
Buser, J. (2009) Treatment-Seeking Disparity between African Americans and Whites: Attitudes toward Treatment, Coping Resources, and Racism. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 37, 94-104.
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2009.tb00094.x
Miranda, R., Soffer, A., Polanco-Roman, L., Wheeler, A. and Moore, A. (2015) Mental Health Treatment Barriers among Racial/Ethnic Minority versus White Young Adults 6 Months after Intake at a College Counseling Center. Journal of American College Health, 63, 291-298.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2015.1015024
Brownson, C., Becker, M.S., Shadick, R., Jaggars, S.S. and Nitkin-Kaner, Y. (2014) Suicidal Behavior and Help Seeking among Diverse College Students. Journal of College Counseling, 17, 116-130. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1882.2014.00052.x
Kim, J.E., Park, S.S., La, A., Chang, J. and Zane, N. (2016) Counseling Services for Asian, Latino/a, and White American Students: Initial Severity, Session Attendance, and Outcome. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22, 299-310.
https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000069
Klug, J. (2021) The Role of Whiteness in Access Disparities in College Counseling Services. Doctoral Dissertation, Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database.
Bose, J., Hedden, S.L. and Lipari, R.N. (2019) Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/cbhsq-reports/NSDUHFFR2017/NSDUHFFR2017.pdf
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2019) Behavioral Health Barometer: United States, Volume 5: Indicators as Measured through the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services. (HHS Publication No. SMA-19-Baro-17-US). Rockville. https://store.samhsa.gov/
American College Health Association (2019) American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II: Reference Group Executive Summary, Issue.
https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHAII_SPRING_2019_US_REFERENCE_GROUP_EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY.pdf
National Center for Health Statistics (2020) Early Release of Selected Mental Health Estimates Based on Data from the January-June 2019 National Health Interview Survey. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/ERmentalhealth-508.pdf
Ruiz, N.G., Horowitz, J.M. and Tamir, C. (2020) Many Black and Asian Americans Say They Have Experienced Discrimination amid the COVID-19 Outbreak.
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/07/01/many-black-and-asian-americans-say-they-have-experienced-discrimination-amid-the-covid-19-outbreak/
Lipson, S.K., Kern, A., Eisenberg, D. and Breland-Noble, A.M. (2018) Mental Health Disparities among College Students of Color. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63, 348-356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.04.014
Hayes, J.A., Chun-Kennedy, C., Edens, A. and Locke, B.D. (2011) Do Double Minority Students Face Double Jeopardy? Testing Minority Stress Theory. Journal of College Counseling, 14, 117-126.
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1882.2011.tb00267.x
McGuire, T.G., Alegria, M., Cook, B.L., Wells, K.Z. and Zaslavsky, A.M. (2006) Implementing the Institute of Medicine Definition of Disparities: An Application to Mental Health Care. Health Services Research, 41, 1979-2005.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6773.2006.00583.x
Dunley, P. and Papadopoulos, A. (2019) Why Is It So Hard to Get Help? Barriers to Help-Seeking in Postsecondary Students Struggling with Mental Health Issues: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 17, 699-715. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-0029-z
Kivlighan, D.M., Jung, A.-K., Berkowitz, A.B., Hammer, J.H. and Collins, N.M. (2019) “To Show or No-Show”? Therapist Tacial-Ethnic Disparities in Clients’ Nonattendance in Therapy. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 33, 1-13.
https://doi.org/10.1080/87568225.2018.1424597
Owen, J., Imel, Z., Adelson, J. and Rodolfa, E. (2012) “No-Show”: Therapist Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Client Unilateral Termination. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59, 314-320. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027091
Snowden, L.R. (2012) Health and Mental Health Policies’ Role in Better Understanding and Closing African American-White American Disparities in Treatment Access and Quality of Care. American Psychologist, 67, 524-531.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030054
Cabrera, N.L. (2018) White Guys on Campus: Racism, White Immunity, and the Myth of “Post-Racial” Higher Education. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick.
https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813599106
Bonilla-Silva, E. and Forman, T.A. (2000) “I Am Not a Racist but … ”: Mapping White College Students’ Racial Ideology in the USA. Discourse & Society, 11, 50-85.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926500011001003
Helms, J. (2017) The Challenge of Making Whiteness Visible: Reactions to Four Whiteness Articles. Counseling Psychologist, 45, 717-726.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000017718943
Cabrera, N.L., Franklin, J.D. and Watson, J.S. (2016) Whiteness in Higher Education: The Invisible Missing Link in Diversity and Racial Analyses. ASHE Higher Education Report, 42, 7-125. https://doi.org/10.1002/aehe.20116
Bhattacharya, K. (2017) Fundamentals of Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide. Taylor & Francis, Abingdon-on-Thames. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315231747
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2006) Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham.
Jones, S.R., Arminio, J., et al. (2014) Negotiating the Complexities of Qualitative Research in Higher Education: Fundamental Elements and Issues. Routledge, New York.
Sue, D.W. (2004) Whiteness and Ethnocentric Monoculturalism: Making the “Invisible” Visible. American Psychologist, 59, 761-769.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.59.8.761
Hayes, J.A., McAleavey, A.A., Castonguay, L.G. and Locke, B.D. (2016) Psychotherapists’ Outcomes with White and Racial/Ethnic Minority Clients: First, the Good News. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63, 261-268.
https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000098
Cornish, P.A., Berry, G., Benton, S., Barros-Gomes, P., Johnson, D., Ginsburg, R., Whelan, B., Fawcett, E. and Romano, V. (2017) Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Today’s College Student: Reinventing Services through Stepped Care 2.0. Psychological Services, 14, 428-442. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000158
Huilgol, Y.S., Torous, J., Gold, J.A. and Goldman, M.L. (2021) Telemental Health Policies for College Students during COVID-19. Journal of American College Health, 71, 665-669. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1909040
Beaunoyer, E., Dupéré, S. and Guitton, M.J. (2020) COVID-19 and Digital Inequalities: Reciprocal Impacts and Mitigation Strategies. Computers in Human Behavior, 111, Article ID: 106424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106424
Campos-Castillo, C. and Laestadius, L.I. (2020) Racial and Ethnic Digital Divides in Posting COVID-19 Content on Social Media among U.S. Adults: Secondary Survey Analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22, e20472.
https://doi.org/10.2196/20472
Holmes, E.A., O’Connor, R.C., Perry, V.H., Tracey, I., Wessely, S., Arseneault, L., Ballard, C., Christensen, H., Silver, R.C. and Everall, I. (2020) Multidisciplinary Research Priorities for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call for Action for Mental Health Science. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7, 547-560.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30168-1