Do the perceptions of the usefulness of academic support services influence ethnically diverse students' help-seeking attitudes and behaviors?

UnrestrictedThe purpose of the current study was to extend the research on help-seeking by investigating factors associated with ethnic background that are likely to influence students help-seeking from academic and student support services. Specifically, the study examined the relationship between students perceptions of academic support services (i.e., cultural congruity, academic environment), their ethnicity, and their resulting help-seeking behaviors.; A sample of 201 community college students completed a 59-item survey assessing their perceptions of the academic and student support services (i.e., perceptions of cultural congruity, perceptions of academic environment), their selfworth protective tendencies, and their help-seeking from specified support services provided at their community college. In addition, the participants completed three open-ended items assessing their experiences with the support services.; The data demonstrated that there were ethnic differences in terms of students' perceptions of the academic support services. Specifically, Caucasian students reported higher cultural congruity than Other students (Russian, Armenian, and Asian and other-non-White), and Latino students reported more positive perceptions of the academic environment than Other students (Russian, Armenian, and Asian and other non-White). However, no differences emerged between Caucasian and Latino students, and Caucasian and African American students.; While students' perceptions of the academic support services (i.e., cultural congruity and the academic environment) and their tendency to protect their selfworth did not predict help-seeking, students' knowledge of support services added variance above and beyond students' GPA in explaining students' help-seeking behaviors. However, students' perceptions of the academic environment and their help-seeking were positively correlated, and inverse relationships emerged between students' perceptions of cultural congruity and self-worth protection, and similarly, between students' perceptions of the academic environment and self-worth protection. Therefore, future research should re-examine the relationships proposed in the current study, in addition to further exploring the newfound relationships between self-worth protection and cultural congruity and perceptions of the academic environment