Persistence of Black Students Attending Predominantly White Institutions: Where Mental Health Resources are Missing

Publication Date

4-6-2018

Document Type

Poster

Department

Communication

Mentor

John Baldwin

Mentor Department

Communication

Abstract

Black college students face a particular battle during attending college at predominantly White institutions. Not only do they face the normal trials and tribulations of other college students, but they face hardships specific to their race. Because of this, it is important that Black students' mental health stay intact. However, Black students are not making use of their mental health resources on college campuses. This resource gone unused can affect how these students succeed during their collegiate careers. In this paper, I will investigate Black students' perceptions of mental health resources to figure out why they are going unused by this population. The findings, collected from one-on-one interviews with Black college students, revealed that university based mental health services are underutilized due to poor communication between mental health resources and Black student populations regarding clinic availability and location. Black students also expressed that accessibility, open communication, and representation would make a more valuable resource that they would be more inclined to use. Keywords: Predominantly White Institutions, mental health, Black students

Comments

Williams-graduate

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