Academic Counselling in a Multi-Tiered System in Higher Education in China

Abstract

Schools, colleges and universities are in a unique position not only to impart knowledge to students and sharpen their cognitive abilities, but to assist those who may experience personal problems (social, mental, or difficulties with their studies). Thus, counselling services have become an important service and has become a part of a multi-tiered sytem. However, there are some studies which report that not all students support these counselling service. Such studies tend to be rare. Using the theory of planned behavior as the theoretical base, this present study considers four mediating roles: subjective norm, student satisfaction, self-esteem, and burnout reduction. Apart from student satisfaction, Sobel, Aorian and Goodman provided statistical evidence to support the importance of a mediating role. As student satisfaction is an affective or subjective state, the mediator role can become difficult. Academic counselling service personnel can significantly leverage the performance of their counselling services, and thus, affect attitudes towards those services.