Inside the Handbag

1. Inside the Handbag A Closer Look at the Needs and Concerns Carried by College Women

2. Presenters • Kara Cattani, Ph.D. • LaNae Valentine, Ph.D. • Melissa Jones, Ph.D. • Anna Packard, Ph.D. • Rebecca Johnson

3. Why the Study? • To help Counseling & Psychological Services and Women’s Services & Resources promote greater responsiveness to the needs of women on campus • Outreach • Prevention Education • Programming • Services

4. Purpose of Study • To evaluate the emotional distress, physical health, relationships, and career needs of women on campus • To assess what services and resources BYU women are using and what services are lacking.

5. Participants • 51 women at BYU between the ages of 18-49 • Mean age 23.06; Modal age 20 • 33 Caucasian, 7 Latina, 1 African, 7 Polynesian, 4 multi-ethnic • 40 Single, 10 Married, 1 Divorced • 7 Sophomores, 15 Juniors, 22 Seniors, 7 Graduate Students • Recruited by a booth in the student center • Given $20 and pizza for their participation

6. Focus Groups • Five 90 minute focus groups • Researchers were group leaders • Self-directed, leaders would prompt with questions on protocol sheet if needed • i.e. “What are your main concerns at this time in your life?” • “What is it like to be a woman at BYU?”

7. Data Analysis • Consensual Qualitative Research (Hill, 2011) • Participants’ identities were dummy-coded • Focus groups transcribed • Coded into Domains • Reviewed each transcript to see what topic areas naturally arise from the interview data (inductive approach) • Each person did individually, then reached consensus • Coded each Domain into Core Ideas • Summaries of the data that capture the essence of the participants’ statements in fewer words • Worked together as a team

8. Four Domains • Identity • Emotional, Mental, & Physical Health • Relationships • Women’s Roles

9. Domain 1: Identity Core Ideas: • Women struggle with perfectionism. • Women struggle with body image. • Women struggle to identify with perceived social or cultural norms.

10. Identity Core Idea 1: Women struggle with perfectionism.

11. Identity: Perfectionism “Perfectionism on steroids here. More than in any college. You have an entire 23,000 student body of perfectionists. I have to be MORE perfect than you! So…you put a lot more pressure on yourself, even though maybe not everyone expects you to put that kind of pressure, but it’s really hard, especially if you come in with the best grades, great scholarships…it’s like, ok, so I’m now a small fish in a really, really big pond.”

12. Identity: Not Special Anymore “I think it’s hard going from where you’re the lead in the musical and you’re all of these things, and then you come here and so what? I know it’s not special anymore. You’re just like everybody else.”

13. Identity: Comparisons “But the culture seems to breed - are you doing your best? Are you really measuring up? Are you good enough? All those kind of thoughts. Whether it be body image or your intellect, or how you dress and look, your style, just anything about you and other people and seeing how successful other people are versus yourself.”

14. Identity: Comparisons “All the women I talk to come here and feel like, ‘wow, I’m so bad,’ when others are looking at them saying, ‘I’m so bad compared with you.’ I feel like there’s so many different outlets…I got married and I felt so good about all these things I’d registered for for my house, then I go visit teach somebody…and I was like oh my gosh. We’re gonna go home and rethink my house now. It kind of doesn’t really end.”

15. Identity: Comparisons “So what if you have runny eggs and burnt toast? I think we get stuck in this comparing our weaknesses to other peoples’ strengths, and then it’s not even on the same level at all which is really terrible for us to do to ourselves, but we do it a lot.”

16. Identity Core Idea 2: Women struggle with body image.

17. Identity: Body Image “I just look around campus and I’m like, ‘Gosh, everyone is like smaller and cuter and blonder than me’ [laughter]. But I do think a lot of girls feel this really heavy pressure to look a certain way, not necessarily be a certain physical type, but just to be like super pretty and everything has to be perfect, and if you’re not that, then guys are like ‘What’s wrong with that one?’ [laughter].”

18. Identity: Health or Beauty? “I think we cover it up a lot with ‘I’m concerned about being healthy.’ That’s all well and good, but I think our motivation is to get skinny, not to get healthy.” ….. “I think sometimes, too, we can go the other way, where we stick a stigma on people that are trying to be healthier, because then it’s like ‘Do you have a problem with your body? Because you should love yourself the way you are. Love your shape. Why are you doing that?’”

19. Identity Core Idea 3: Women struggle to identify with perceived social or cultural norms.

20. Identity: Cultural Norms “People would talk slowly ‘cuz they thought I couldn't speak English.” ….. “It’s really hard being on such a white campus, especially when it comes to dating, because you’re totally overlooked a lot of the time.”

21. Identity: Stereotypes “I am married, and I feel like at BYU there is a certain ‘married person leprosy’. . .BYU encourages you to get married but once you are married it is like ‘you can’t do this, you can’t do that’ so you feel like an outcast.”

22. Identity: Stereotypes “People want you to go out and get your education but deep down inside they are like ‘get your education but someday you are just going to stay home.” ….. “It’s not very outward that they say that but in the back of their minds, this girl’s just going to get her degree and go have a family; it doesn’t matter.”

23. Identity: Stereotypes • “There’s a lot of pressure to like, date, and get married, get out of this stage of your life and get on to that next stage. And that can be kind of frustrating to me because it’s like stereotypically, the average BYU co-ed supposedly gets asked out on dates all the time, and when that’s not happening to you, you start to wonder, what’s wrong with me? That can be kind of frustrating.”

24. Identity: Stereotypes “I’m 24 and in BYU speed, being 24 and single is like, better start buying cats [laughter].”

25. Domain 2: Emotional, Mental, & Physical Health Core Ideas: • Women find that the stresses of school affect their overall health. • Women dealing with emotional, mental, or physical issues struggle to find a way to cope. • Women feel there is a stigma attached to seeking for help with their problems.

26. Health Core Idea 1: Women find that the stresses of school affect their overall health.

27. Health: Stress “I think it’s all a cycle. For me, the number one thing...is stress and stress management because I know when I’m stressed I eat badly. When you eat badly, you gain weight, and then you feel negative about yourself. It’s just like a cycle to me and I think especially as students right now.” ….. “I would love to eat healthy and exercise but it’s just not enough time.  It’s awful!”

28. Health Core Idea 2: Women dealing with emotional, mental, or physical issues struggle to find a way to cope.

29. Health: Depression “I think depression is one of the main things. It's hard when you're in such a closed environment and you're away from your family; you're not close to your family, it's hard. You have roommates that are in relationships that are going great and you're not, or whatever, or you just don't feel like you get along with your roommates...it can be hard to be happy all the time.”

30. Health: Coping “I was really depressed and kind of stopped functioning, but I couldn’t point to any reason why- nothing traumatic happened, there was nothing. I just was. So I had to kind of let go of that assumption that I needed a reason to come here [the counseling center]. I didn’t need a reason. I just needed help.”

31. Health: Eating Disorders “I've seen several girls in different capacities who are dealing with either depression or eating disorders…Based on the number of my personal acquaintances who have dealt with it, I would guess that there are a lot of people out there who are maybe dealing with that on some level and not accessing the resources that they need because they may not know that they're there, or may not know that it's ok and really important to do that.”

32. Health Core Idea 3:Women feel there is a stigma attached to seeking for help with their problems.

33. Health: Therapy is Weird “I feel a little bit awkward just walking in, ‘I need some help,’ because I feel like oh, am I psycho or something?” ….. “Therapy is weird, it’s only for like crazy people, but I’ve talked to my family about getting help with family issues, and I think they think it’s weird; it’s taboo to even mention you should to go see a counselor.”

34. Health: Counseling Stigma “So it’s definitely a hard balance to try to find how can you get people to not feel intimidated by it [counseling]...I think it’s a barrier, getting people in beforehand, before problems become depression or become really serious, anxiety or something or you bottom out. That’s definitely an issue on campus.”

35. Health: Counseling Stigma • “I haven’t really shared this- it’s kind of personal- but I have sought out counseling and stuff, and therapy, and it has made a world of difference...I don’t know why I don't share it more with my friends. I guess I am kind of embarrassed, in a way, that I have seen a counselor and stuff, but I wish when I hear my friends’ concerns, I’ve recommended it. I recommend it to anyone, just going and talking. It helps so much.”

36. Domain 3: Relationships Core Ideas: • The pressure to date and marry causes anxiety among some women. • Concerns within dating relationships may cause anxiety among women. • Women are concerned about their relationships with close family members, friends, and roommates, in addition to dating relationships.

37. Relationships Core Idea 1: The pressure to date causes anxiety among some women.

38. Relationships: Always a Concern “But dating is always a concern.  It’s always stressful; it’s something we talk about all the time.” ….. “My dinner group last term, that was the subject of every single dinner conversation.”

39. Relationships: Nagging pressure “So it is something...always kind of lingering there at the back of my head because it is part of...the culture and society in this area, whether or not we want it to be. It’s just like nagging every time you see a bridal fair or have a roommate who's engaged…so it is always there, and not always in a positive way.”

40. Relationships: Comparisons (again) “I think a lot of the body image concerns are tied with dating, too, because people who feel like they don’t get asked out can say ‘I’m nice and I’m smart’ but the one thing you can’t really control is how you look so it’s easier to blame that for why you might not be dating. Because there’s this culture of dating; things become shallow and superficial...I remember freshmen year in the dorms thinking, all these girls have prom hair everyday!” ….. “I don’t know, sometimes I feel like it’s [dating] a competitive sport.”

41. Relationships: Mr. Whoever “A lot of girls will get married around this age, but if you don’t, whatever. There’s a time and a season for everything, and if certain things don’t work out now, then you keep moving on. You can’t sit around waiting for Mr. Whoever to come save you. ‘Cuz he does nothing.”

42. Relationships Core Idea 2: Concerns within dating relationships may cause anxiety among women.

43. Relationships: Pleasing the guy “They [women] think we have to please the guy by making out with them or being physical and so the guys kind of use that. And it takes several times of this, sometimes, for the young women to get wise to it, to just finally decide, I’m done. I’m not gonna follow that manipulation thing. But in the meanwhile, the feelings are constantly getting hurt...girls that date and feel like they have to make out to make the guy happy, to keep the relationship going.”

44. Relationships: Concerns • “I think about it [marriage] too and I worry about that. I mean, my parents split up when I was really young and so I worry about, like, am I even equipped to get married? Do I know what a good healthy marriage looks like? I didn't really grow up seeing how a good marriage operates and so that causes anxiety for me.”

45. Relationships Core Idea 3: Women are concerned about their relationships with family members, friends, and roommates, in addition to dating relationships.

46. Relationships: Family “The baby was only three when I left so a lot has changed over that time and my family's not the greatest at communication, and so that's been a big challenge - learning how to maintain those relationships when I'm only there once a year, twice a year.”

47. Relationships: Friends “I think the focus on dating can make it harder to even just like have friends too because it’s so okay, am I interested in you? Ok, next, next, next..and so we forget about people as people sometimes.” ….. “I think it’s hard to make deep friendships, too, at BYU, because it seems like people are changing all the time, people are moving all the time, semester changes, classes change. It can be really difficult to make friends with people and stay friends with them for longer than just a couple months or whatever.”

48. Relationships: Roommates “I don't feel like I'm  very well-equipped to help people and I don't know what to tell them…I don't know what to tell my roommates when they come home just like crying about broken engagements and things like that-  what can you do?”

49. Domain 4: Women’s Roles Core Ideas: • Women struggle with the question of how to balance family life with their educational goals. • Women sometimes feel that they are not given social support in these decisions. • Women sometimes feel that they are not given institutional support in these decisions.

50. Women’s Roles Core Idea 1: Women struggle with the question of how to balance family life with their educational goals.