Advising Effective Advising of Diverse

Advising

Effective Advising of Diverse Students in Community Colleges

This qualitative study by Graciela L. Orozco, Alvin N. Alvarez, and Terry Gutkin (2010) was conducted to examine student use of counseling and advising services in community colleges in California. Research indicates the use of counseling and advising is critical in providing key links between students, curricula, and colleges. Academic advising and exposure to resources such as mentors, high quality online courses, internships, and applied learning as well as personal counseling on psychological concerns can contribute to the academic persistence of community colleges students. Of the 6.3 million students enrolled in community colleges nationwide approximately 40% are students of color. A primary goal of this study was to explore how students of color in community college perceive and utilize academic advising and personal counseling. This problem is clearly stated and appears significant.

The Theoretical Framework

The authors report research indicates that low rates of utilization and negative perceptions of advising and counseling services among students of color. They note that a major limitation of the current research on advising and retention is that it tends to be dominated by studies conducted at four-year institutions.

Furthermore, little is known about the college experience of first-generation college students and even less is known about those who are at community colleges. According to the authors first-generation students receive poor counseling and advising and are too often these students are tracked into vocational, technical, and/or remedial programs. White students in transfer programs receive significantly more advising than Black students in transfer programs and White students in non-transfer majors. Researchers point out that different groups of students have different advising and academic needs.

The authors note it is unclear how student retention is affected by significant concerns such as family responsibilities, work commitments, diverse learning styles, adjustment to a new environment with different cultural values, and so forth and previous studies have focused on the concept of academic and social integration as a framework for understanding student retention. The authors argue that this theoretical framework may be more relevant for students who attend a residential liberal arts college than for community college students. The challenge of retaining a full-time, nonworking student who lives on campus and is a third- generation college student is different from the challenge of retaining a part-time, first-generation college student who works full-time while living at home. Only 31% of community college students attended school full-time as compared to 63% of four-year institution students. Furthermore 41% of community college students worked full time as compared to 23% of four-year college students. Because of these unique differences this study was based on in-depth interviews with students of color in nine community colleges in California about their advising and counseling experiences. The literature reviewed supports the need for further research into this problem.

The Methodology

This study was designed using purposeful sampling approaches to obtain "information rich" cases and facilitate comparisons between particular ethnic groups. This strategy was used in order to examine major variations rather than commonalities between groups.

Interviews were conducted during visits to nine community college campuses in California. Campuses were selected based on two factors, geographic location and ethnic/racial demographics. Students were recruited using two main methods, cold calls to students from lists provided by campus researchers and by hiring a student at each campus to conduct outreach and locate volunteers. Students who reflected specific characteristics of the overall community college population were sought. Ages of students in the study ranged from 20 years of age and under (31%) to 51 years of age and over (5%), with 52% of the students being under the age of 26. Furthermore, students with 40 or more units as well as students that were no longer enrolled in classes were interviewed to complete a better understanding of the phenomenon.

The Results

The results of this study exposed four themes with respect to advising and counseling, differences in the use of counseling and advising, the importance of the counseling relationship, knowing the system, and cultural understanding and racism. With respect to the first theme the study found the use of counseling varied along racial lines, with white and Asian students most likely to see a counselor. Data collected from the research described supportive counselors as individuals who have time to listen to student needs, impart basic educational planning, provide support beyond academics, accept the student's cultural background, and understand the family, school, and work responsibilities of their clients. Findings from the study support the need for extended access to information. Interviewees mentioned college orientation, guidance classes, and personal workshops as being beneficial. Finally, results indicated that student's considered it important to find counselors that could relate to their life experiences.

The Discussion

The authors suggest the results of this study indicate the need for coursework and training that sensitizes students to the experiences of others from diverse backgrounds. The creation of a welcoming background is an important environmental factor that will increase understanding and acceptance among diverse groups of students. Furthermore the establishment of trust between a counselor and client is vital in order to have students utilize their services on a continuing basis.