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Higher education has long been heralded as a path to personal and professional growth. Yet, for many underrepresented college students, navigating academic life can feel akin to scaling an invisible mountain. The barriers—ranging from cultural stigma and financial constraints to limited access to tailored support—are significant and deeply rooted.
To truly create equitable campuses, institutions must actively encourage help-seeking behaviors, addressing not just the availability of resources, but also the accessibility and perceptions surrounding them.
Why is help-seeking among underrepresented students important?
A recent nationwide survey by TimelyCare, higher education’s most trusted virtual health and well-being provider, shows that 71% of college students experience mental health challenges like stress, anxiety, and depression. For underrepresented groups – such as first-generation college students, students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, and those from low-income backgrounds – additional pressures and other factors like stigma or lack of awareness, often compound these challenges and cause students to hold back from seeking the care and support they need to thrive.
Breaking this cycle of disengagement isn’t just about offering services—it’s about fundamentally changing campus culture.
In a Gen Ztressed webinar hosted by TimelyCare, experts Brianna Yahaya, M.S Ed., student life coordinator at Saybrook University and Travis W. Proffitt, M.A., assistant vice president for retention at Emory & Henry University, weighed in on what colleges and universities can do to help support underrepresented student groups to ensure they receive the care and support they need to succeed.
Key barriers to help-seeking for underrepresented students
Understanding the obstacles underrepresented students face is essential to dismantling them. Common barriers include:
- Cultural stigma: Many underrepresented students come from communities where asking for help, particularly around mental health, is seen as a sign of weakness. Normalizing these conversations is critical to reducing this stigma.
- Hidden curriculum: This refers to institutional jargon, unspoken rules, and processes that are intimidating to first-generation students. Terms like “FAFSA,” “withdrawal deadline,” or “academic probation” can feel alien and inaccessible.
- Limited representation: Students often feel more comfortable seeking support from professionals who understand their lived experiences. A lack of diverse counselors, advisors, and faculty can prevent students from utilizing available resources.
- Financial concerns: Many students fear that seeking support—especially for mental health—will lead to unaffordable costs. Communicating free or low-cost options is vital.
- Unclear systems: Overlapping or confusing systems for accessing resources can deter already overwhelmed students. Simplifying access and offering proactive guidance can make a huge difference.
Is your campus encouraging help-seeking behaviors?
How to foster a help-seeking campus culture
Higher education administrators play a pivotal role in normalizing help-seeking behaviors. Here’s how you can start driving change on your campus:
Normalize asking for help through messaging
Make help-seeking a celebrated and integral part of campus life. Incorporate language like “It’s smart to ask for help” into orientation programs, campus-wide communications and even classroom discussions.
Highlight testimonials from relatable students who have successfully utilized resources. For example, showing how a first-generation student thrived after engaging with an academic advisor can inspire others to do the same.
Increase representation in support resources
Representation matters. Ensure counseling centers, academic support teams, and faculty include professionals who reflect the diverse identities of your student body. If hiring diverse staff isn’t immediately feasible, adopt tools like telehealth services – which give students the option to select culturally competent providers with similar lived experiences. For instance, Saybrook University implemented TimelyCare to provide students access to diverse counseling professionals, resulting in increased engagement and satisfaction.
Yahaya recalls one student who, when deciding whether or not to drop out of
school, chose to stay enrolled because she had access to TimelyCare.
“She wasn’t going to withdraw because she was utilizing the service. We’ve gotten so much positive feedback from students saying, ‘Thank you for listening to us. This is really helpful to be able to use this service,’” she said.
Demystify the “hidden curriculum”
Creating workshops and first-year seminars to intentionally unpack institutional jargon and norms is indispensable, especially for first-generation students. Proffitt from Emory & Henry College emphasized the importance of teaching students to ask questions early. He noted that efforts to explain processes like course withdrawals and financial aid appeals during orientation and introductory courses have significantly reduced confusion and barriers.
Embed support within existing structures
Don’t wait for students to find you—bring resources to them. Partner with student organizations, residence halls, and cultural centers to offer pop-up counseling sessions, financial aid workshops, or academic advising. For online students, email campaigns and regular check-ins are essential. At Saybrook University, Yahaya said virtual onboarding and email follow-ups have created a sense of community even for remote learners.
Address financial concerns
Promote the affordability of support services by clearly communicating when specific resources, like counseling or tutoring, are free. Work with financial aid offices to develop emergency funds that can be accessed without daunting paperwork.
Empower peer advocacy
Peer-to-peer support is one of the most effective ways to reach resistant students. Equip student leaders, resident assistants (RAs), and club officers with basic training to identify peers in distress and guide them toward professional services. Proffitt also shared how visual cues, like “I’m First” stickers for first-generation-friendly staff and Safe Zone LGBTQIA+ ally stickers, have encouraged students to approach faculty confidently.
Leverage technology
Integrate help-seeking tools into student workflows. For instance, embedding mental health service links or academic advising portals directly in Learning Management Systems (LMS), like Moodle or Canvas, ensures users are only a click away from support. At Saybrook University, this approach has proven successful, with links to TimelyCare prominently integrated into the student tools dashboard.
Action steps for administrators
Building a help-seeking culture requires long-term commitment, but immediate actions include:
- Conducting anonymous surveys to gauge student perceptions of available resources.
- Collaborating with student groups to co-design culturally relevant support programs.
- Launching outreach campaigns to highlight underused resources in emails, social media, and campus events.
- Monitoring data usage for key services to identify engagement gaps and opportunities.
Empower students to seek support today
Promoting help-seeking behaviors on your campus is more than an administrative initiative—it’s a commitment to equity and academic success. When underrepresented students know they have access to relatable, approachable, and comprehensive resources, they are more likely to thrive and achieve their educational goals.
TimelyCare research shows how virtual care can significantly enhance access to mental health care among college students across racial and ethnic groups. Analysis of data from 113 colleges and universities showed Asian, Black and Multiracial undergraduates accessed fully virtual mental health services at a higher rate than would be expected based on the demographics of these institutions.
Given that prior research demonstrates that access to traditional mental health services has historically been lowest among Asian and Black college students, these findings underscore how 24/7 virtual care addresses and breaks down barriers to traditional mental health care among these populations.
Want to take the next step? Learn how tools like TimelyCare can help your institution foster accessible, inclusive support services that inspire students to seek the help they deserve.
