Columbia University Mental Health Task Force

April 2015

Identity-Based Concerns Survey

Experiences at Columbia Psychological Services and Furman Counseling Center

Summary
Students who use Counseling
and Psychological Services (CPS)
and Furman Counseling Center
have a variety of experiences, and
the data collected by our survey
shows that these experiences
vary based upon the groups
with which these students
identify. In some cases, students
expectations were exceeded in
the way that CPS dealt with a
marginalized identity However,
CPS still has many areas in which
it needs to improve. Of particular
concern is the care of students
who identify as people of color
and non-straight students, as
these two groups as these two
groups often had very strongly
negative experiences.

Further, the data collected

indicates
that
for
each
marginalized
identity
of
a
student,
the
student
progressively rates CPS lower and
lower. In the end, the question
becomes What do we do with
this data? and, based upon the
responses of many students
who responded, we believe that
CPS should work to hire more
therapists who better represent
the varied and intersecting
identities with which Columbia
students identify.

There were some

comments based on
stereotypes regarding Latino people
that were slightly
off putting.
- Gay Latino
respondent on his
experiences at CPS

Methods
Its hard to relate to
the staff because they
are not Indigenous.
However, Im
challenging
myself and learning to
adapt. Even though I
would like someone
who has experience
with working with
Indigenous students, I
am managing.
- Gay Indigenous
respondent on his
experiences at CPS

172 students took part in the

survey. In the survey, students
were first asked to identify the
school they attend and then
describe (in their own words)
their racial or ethnic identity,
sexual
orientation,
gender
identity, and religious or cultural
identity. They identified whether
they had attended Furman or CPS
or used any other mental health
resources available on campus,
and subsequently whether they
had been asked during a phone
review with CPS/Furman about
identity concerns--a question
only 23 students remember
being asked. Students rated
their expected level of comfort
with talking to CPS if they had
not visited the office and their
experienced level of comfort if
they had.

Questions asked about levels

of comfort when discussing the
following categories:
- Sexual orientation
- Gender identity
- Racial or ethnic identity
- Religious or cultural identity
- Other or intersecting identities
(only asked to students who had
been to CPS/Furman)
All questions were asked
anonymously, although students
were given a chance to identify
themselves if they wanted to
speak with the Mental Health
Task Force further or join the
group. For all answers, students
were also given the chance to
comment anecdotally.

IBC Survey Results

Columbia Mental Health Task Force

Analysis by School
We found a marginally significant effect that those who are in CC
(as opposed to SEAS, Barnard, GS, and graduate schools) have the lowest
satisfaction.

I didnt have a
phone-call in,
rather I stopped
by during the
open-door hours
of one of the
counselors who
then scheduled
an appointment
for me with a
counselor. She was
very responsive
and helpful during
the open-door
hours, and really
listened to my
problems intently
enough to refer me
to a counselor who
had a specialty in
counseling gay
students.
- Gay white
respondent on his
experiences at CPS

IBC Survey Results

Race
Due to low sample size, results were
categorized as students of color
and students not of color. The term
students of color encompassed
students who self-identified as
Black/African-American/African,
Latin@/Hispanic/Chican@, AsianAmerican/Asian/South
Asian,
Native/First
Nations,
Arab/
Middle Eastern, and multiracial/
mixed-race. (Terms have been
lifted directly from the students
responses.) Students of color
had a lowered expectation for
how comfortable they would feel
speaking at either CPS or Furman,
but only on the basis of racial
categories, and felt roughly the
same as students not identifying of
color for all of the other categories.
For the satisfaction or comfortability
after having visited CPS, students
of color feel less comfortable
discussing all topics (gender, race,
sexuality, etc.) but the effect is
particularly pronounced and only

reaches statistical significance on

the basis of race. The effect is very
high for race in terms of size and
statistical significance. The sample
size is very small for Furman,
however it appears the same effect
is there for race and religion.
Anecdotally, one student who
identified as African American said
that the conversation was steered
toward their racial identity by their
CPS provider, and that they had not
come in to talk about that. However,
many students who identified as
people of color that were paired
with
CPS/Furman
counselors
who were also people of color
appreciated the experience, and
said directly that a connection was
easier to form because of a shared
identity. Also noted was the lack of
a single man of color on-staff.

Gender
Due to the variety of responses
and the very small number of
respondents identifying as noncisgender, analysis was limited
to cisgender men, cisgender
women, and transgender people (a
category including trans men, trans
women, and genderqueer/nonbinary people). For expectations
of comfort levels, trans students
felt lower on all parameters.
Something noteworthy is that trans
students felt the lowest comfort
for discussing religious identities.
Between cisgender men and
women, cisgender women were
slightly lower. As for the students
that have attended, satisfaction
is slightly lower for women. This
sample only has 6 trans students,
which makes analysis quite difficult;
however, the average of those six

students is quite a bit higher than

both cisgender men and women
who have attended CPS on all
parameters. This suggests that
CPS is exceeding the expectations
of transgender students who visit
their office--however, a larger
sample would allow for more
definitive conclusions. However,
some students did have negative
experiences anecdotally, including
one
gender
non-conforming
respondent who said they felt
disconnected from a therapist
who seemed voyeuristic. Finally,
many students also felt they had to
provide Trans 101 to the counselor
and expressed a desire to see a
trans member of CPSs staff.

Columbia Mental Health Task Force

Sexual Orientation
There were similar issues in the analysis of data on the
effect of sexual orientation to those seen for gender.
The respondents were therefore categorized into
straight and gay/lesbian/bisexual/queer/etc. to allow
for statistical analysis.
Students who have not utilized any of the health
services offices and did not identify as straight had
significantly lower expectations, especially in their
expectations of orientation and gender. Students who
did not identify as straight and have attended CPS have
felt a lower satisfaction than heterosexual students on
all parameters, and particularly so on the parameter of
sexual orientation.

As a Muslim, I fear that CPS

wont be able to give me
the specialized counseling
I need. I need someone to
understand my faith and
any problems that may
arise from it. - Muslim man
of color respondent on his
experiences at CPS

Something that is noteworthy is that of the students

who have attended CPS, more in our sample identify as
not heterosexual than those who do (the only time in
this sample that a marginalized identity is been larger).
However, anecdotally, some experiences of students
who explicitly identified as queer or unsure about their
sexual identity were extremely positive. These students
call their experiences talking about their sexual
orientation fantastic and their counselors incredibly
responsive. But, some students did feel as if they were
forced to out themselves to their therapists and walked
away from that experience with negative feelings. There
was also an expressed desire for at least one queer
person of color on-staff.

Religious Identity
Categorization of respondents based upon religion did
not yield statistically significant results. Many students
identified with multiple religious categorizations or
did not identify any religious identity. Anecdotally,
students who identified as Muslims felt as if their
CPS therapists made presumptions about [their]
upbringing when the therapist discovered their
religious identity. A desire for at least one Muslim
counselor on staff was expressed by a Muslim man of
color: As a Muslim, I fear that CPS wont be able to give
me the specialized counseling I need. I need someone
to understand my faith and any problems that may
arise from it.

Intersecting Identities
As the identities compounded, we saw meaningful
and significant effects. Each identity added lowers the
score for some category of satisfaction (usually the one
related to that identity) and lowers the satisfaction in
a small way for the overall score. As each identity is
added, the overall satisfaction score continually gets
lower -- indicating that when each additional identity
(and specifically marginalized identities in the case of
this particular analysis) is taken into account, the score
for overall satisfaction with CPS decreased, indicating
that students on average feel worse as they have more
intersecting marginalized identities.

(A similar effect was observed

with Furman but it was
1
smaller and the sample size was too low to be statistically
meaningful.) This analysis is supported by the anecdotal
evidence of students, who testified that they were
frustrated that they werent prompted to discuss
intersectionality or that their intersecting identities
werent considered during conversations. One student,
who was a queer black woman, specifically noted that
she didnt know if [her therapist] was equipped to
understand [her] race in relation to [her] sexuality.

A more detailed statistical analysis, including a more rigorous description of methods, is

available on request. All analysis is courtesy of Zach Heinemann, and the Mental Health
Task Force is very grateful for his help.
For questions about the survey or how to get involved in the Mental Health Task Force,
contact Ari Schuman (ads2196@columbia.edu), Sejal Singh (sejal.singh.11@gmail.com),
Brennon Mendez (bkm2120@columbia.edu), or Caitlin Lowell (col2108@columbia.edu).
IBC Survey Results