A survey of counseling needs of male and female college students

Journal of College Student Development, Mar/Apr 1998 by Bishop, John B, Bauer, Karen W, Becker, Elizabeth Trezise

A survey of student counseling needs was conducted at a medium-sized suburban institution. Responses to the Survey of Student Needs were received from 803 students. Gender differences are noted and discussed in regard to identified student needs and fears about the future. The value of conducting systematic needs assessments is endorsed.

The importance of periodically assessing the identifiable needs of students in higher education is well established. Kuh (1982) noted that such efforts are crucial for student affairs staff in determining how to best develop effective services and, more recently, Upcraft and Schuh (1996) made similar assertions. Adding to this impetus is the increasing diversity of students, their changing personal and career needs, and the heightened accountability demands that are now a part of institutional management (Bishop, 1995; Friedlander, 1978).

College and university counseling centers generally do not have strong histories of conducting such assessments. Skibbe (1986) hypothesized that counseling center professionals rarely conduct needs assessments because they do not view themselves as having the necessary research skills and experience. Others point out that needs assessments may not always correspond well to student use of counseling services because, for example, the students are not always aware of their own needs (Barrow, Cox, Sepich, & Spivak, 1989).

More recently, however, researchers have found increasing evidence that college and university counseling centers are benefiting from the attempts they do make to conduct needs assessments. Witchel (1991) noted the greater prevalence in the college population of problems related to alcoholism, childhood sexual abuse, physical or emotional abuse, and divorce of parents. Gallagher, Galvin, and Kelleher, (1992) found that large numbers of students on their campus reported very significant personal concerns, including depression, as well as career and academic concerns (i.e., career uncertainty, procrastination, public speaking anxiety) that a counseling center should address. Although research on students who do use counseling services continues to produce valuable information (Heppner et al., 1994), clearly much would be gained by surveying nonclients as well because student needs change over time (Bishop, 1995).

Studies about student characteristics that may be related to counseling needs often report that gender differences exist. For example, males and females have reported that they have different stressors (Murphy & Archer, 1996), problem solving techniques (Elliott, Johnson, & Jackson, 1997) and experience differential treatment (Reinzi, Allen, Sarmiento, & McMillin, 1993) while attending college. The purpose of this study was to conduct a counseling needs assessment survey of current male and female college students, using an instrument and methodology developed at the University of Pittsburgh (Gallagher et al., 1992).

METHOD

Participants

A survey was mailed to a random sample of 1,500 undergraduate and 300 graduate students at the University of Delaware with an assurance that the responses would be anonymous. A total of 803 completed surveys were returned, a 44.6% rate of response. The relatively large sample size was a factor in judging that the data obtained were in compliance with the current practices and suggested guidelines for conducting mail survey research (Weather, Furlong, & Solorzano,1993). The demographics of the sample generally approximated the population of the students in terms of race (89.9% Caucasian/White), academic classification (83.7% undergraduate), and enrollment in the university's eight colleges. The notable exception is that women were somewhat overrepresented in the sample (70.7%) and men were underrepresented (29.1%). The difference, however, is very similar to the percentages of males and females who actually use college counseling centers (e.g. Zalaquett & McManus, 1996).

Instrument

The Survey of Student Needs (SSN) used in this study was initially developed and revised by Gallagher and Scheuring (1978, 1980). A testretest reliability coefficient of .94 has been reported (Gallagher & Scheuring, 1978). The instrument includes 34 items that describe personal, career development and learning skills concerns (University of Pittsburgh, 1992). Participants were asked to indicate the extent to which they needed assistance with a particular issue by using one of five alternative responses: very low need, low need, moderate need, high need, or very high need. Participants also responded to 17 SSN items which described possible fears about the future, using a 5-point Likert-type scale with possible responses ranging from a little concerned to very concerned. Students could also respond with not applicable. Lastly, students were asked to provide some demographic data about themselves.

Analysis

For purposes of this study, data on the total sample and gender comparisons are reported for the 34 items which describe personal, career development, and learning skill concerns and the 17 items which focused on fears about the future. Statistically significant differences between the response of men and women were determined by t tests.