Indonesian Faculty Barriers in Providing Help to College Students in Distress

Abstract

Colleges are experiencing a surge of students in distress, particularly those with suicidal and self-harm tendencies. Despite numerous researchers having explored this phenomenon, very little action has been taken to address this issue at the university level, indicating the existence of inhibitory factors that have not yet been explored. The purpose of this study is to explore barriers that inhibit Indonesian faculty members from providing help to distressed college students. As many as 173 academic faculty members from 72 universities across Indonesia participated in this exploratory study by completing an online self-reported survey. Free text responses were thematically analyzed to provide information about the challenges that faculty members face. The findings were categorized into three main themes: lack of mental health information, unclear professional boundaries, and lack of institutional support. Further implications of the study will be discussed.