Reexamining LGBT Resources on College Counseling Center Websites: An Over-time and Cross-country Analysis

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students continue to perceive a hostile climate on college campuses. For students facing these challenges, the university college counseling center website (CCW) may serve as a critical resource. This study provides an updated content analysis of the prevalence of LGBT communication on CCWs. Results showed that there remains a lack of LGBT-specific information about services provided on US CCWs. Furthermore, over-time analyses of 2008 and 2013 data showed that there have been no significant increases in any LGBT communication, and CCWs from religious schools continue to provide significantly less LGBT-related communication than nonreligious institutions. Separate analyses of UK CCWs showed that these websites were more likely than US CCWs to make any mention of LGBT issues but less likely to note group counseling services, links to LGBT-specific pamphlets, and educational outreach services offered. Overall, given attractive features of online health information, as well as the extent that students value CCWs, institutions must pursue stronger efforts to promote LGBT-related web counseling information.

Keywords:

• Mental Health
• LGBT Resources
• Information Seeking
• Counseling

Notes

[1] While not the goal of this study, from a counseling psychologist/nursing/medical profession perspective, it is critical to address services offered. Thus, we conducted a post-hoc analysis to determine actual services by emailing both US and UK institutions. We asked directors/counselors whether CCWs reflected “all” or “only some” of the services offered by the college counseling center. While the response rate was not great (23% for US schools and 17% for UK schools), the data we did obtain suggest differences across country. For the UK, the majority of responses (74%, n = 14) indicated that the website accurately reflected services offered. In contrast, in the USA, only 49% (n = 17) stated that the CCW accurately reflected services, whereas 51% (n = 18) noted that the CCW only offered information on some of the services offered.