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.

Summary

April 2015

Identity-Based Concerns Survey

Columbia University Mental Health Task Force

1IBC Survey Results

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.

Experiences at Columbia Psychological Services and Furman Counseling Center

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

There were some comments based on stereotypes regard-ing Latino people that were slightly off putting.

- Gay Latino respondent on his experiences at CPS

2 IBC Survey Results

Columbia Mental Health Task Force

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

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

RaceDue 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@, Asian-American/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.

GenderDue to the variety of responses and the very small number of respondents identifying as non-cisgender, analysis was limited to cisgender men, cisgender women, and transgender people (a category including trans men, trans women, and genderqueer/non-binary 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

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

Sexual OrientationThere 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.

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 IdentityCategorization 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 IdentitiesAs 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 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

1

3