Thesis Abstract

Abstract
This research project aims to explore the concerns of undergraduate students regarding seeking counseling services and their gender preferences for counselors. The study utilizes a mixed-methods approach, incorporating both quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to gain a comprehensive understanding of the topic. The quantitative phase involves distributing surveys to a sample of undergraduate students to gather data on their concerns about seeking counseling services and their preferences for the gender of counselors. The survey includes questions about the perceived stigma associated with seeking counseling, the barriers to accessing counseling services, and the importance of counselor gender in the decision-making process. The qualitative phase of the research involves conducting in-depth interviews with a subset of participants to delve deeper into their experiences and perspectives. Through these interviews, the researchers aim to uncover the underlying reasons behind students' concerns about seeking counseling and their gender preferences for counselors. Data analysis will involve both quantitative methods such as statistical analysis of survey responses and qualitative methods such as thematic analysis of interview transcripts. By triangulating the findings from both methods, the study seeks to provide a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of undergraduate students' concerns and preferences related to counseling services. The results of this research are expected to shed light on the factors influencing undergraduate students' decisions about seeking counseling services and the role of counselor gender in this process. The findings may have implications for counseling service providers and university administrators in terms of addressing students' concerns and improving the accessibility and effectiveness of counseling services on college campuses. Overall, this research project contributes to the existing literature on student mental health and counseling services by focusing specifically on the concerns and gender preferences of undergraduate students. By exploring these aspects in depth, the study aims to provide valuable insights that can inform the development of more student-centered and inclusive counseling services in higher education settings.

Thesis Overview

A help seeking survey and measures of socioeconomic status, cultural mistrust, and African Self-consciousness were administered to 315 black college students to study attitudes toward counseling and counselor preference. Multiple Regression analysis indicated that gender, cultural mistrust, and socioeconomic status were statistically significant predictors of attitudes toward counseling with lower socioeconomic class, lower cultural mistrust and female being associated with more favorable attitudes toward seeking counseling.

Canonical correlation analyses of participant attribute variables and counselor preference variables of race and gender for personal (e.g., feeling of inadequacy, depression, poor interpersonal relationships, etc) vocational (e.g., poor grades, indecision about major or occupation), and environmental concerns (e.g., level of perceived racism, sexism, or feelings of isolation) were performed. For personal concerns, canonical analyses indicated that when African Self-consciousness and cultural mistrust are high Black college students tended to prefer a Black counselor, and that Black students who tended to have low levels of African Self-consciousness and who were male preferred a male counselor when faced with personal concerns.

For environmental concerns analyses indicated that higher African Self-consciousness and being female were associated with a preference for Black female counselors. Implications for counseling research and practice are discussed.