Unseen and Underserved: A Content Analysis of Wellness Support Services for Bi + People of Color and Indigenous People on U.S. Campuses

Bi-erasure and color-blind racial ideologies (CBRI) are two systems of oppression that create barriers to wellness for bisexual + People of Color and Indigenous People (bi + POCI). The authors posited that, for college students, these forms of invisibility may be experienced in campus wellness support centers, including university counseling centers, multicultural centers, and centers for sexual and gender diversity. The authors explored the extent to which these wellness support centers’ web-based messages (e.g., identity-based group offering across centers, counseling staff interest listed in biographies, counseling center based resource lists) erase or affirm bi + POCI. This content analysis, guided by Neuendorf’s methodology, was delimited to universities that have American Psychological Association-accredited counseling centers (N = 139). Findings revealed that none of these centers’ websites housed messages acknowledging bi + POCI specifically, disparate affirmation was offered to POCI as compared to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) students through staff biographies irrespective of university type, and minority-serving institutions affirmed POCI and LGBT-identified POCI through their web-based resource lists at significantly higher rates than historically White institutions. These and other finding are discussed in the context of intersectionality and practical recommendations to increase the visibility of bi + POCI are offered.