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Well-Being Experiences of Resident Assistants
with minoritized identities who serve as RAs to ignore their own well-being needs is
problematic, to say the least. Residence life administrators can begin by listening to and
anonymously assessing the needs of their RAs in relation to their well-being. For instance,
holding listening sessions for RAs with minoritized identities to regularly communicate
their needs with housing leaders throughout the year can be one way to get
started. Teaching students living in the residence halls about professional boundaries
with their RAs and crisis resources during pre-orientation and orientation services may
help to alleviate some, but not all, of the negative impacts on their well-being.
Though being an RA was described as a learning experience by study participants,
this kind of education can be enhanced with resources, tools, and trainings that teach
RAs how to limit and manage the deleterious effects of direct and indirect exposure
to trauma. In reconsidering the structural elements of RA roles, residence life leaders
may consider placing two RAs on floors that house 30+ residents and not antiquating
communities by assigning residents to single-gender floors or buildings, which
promoted gendered or heterosexist job performance expectations for students in the
study. A redesigned RA role can be entirely focused on community building and educational
programming. The socio-emotional support parts of the RA position could
be redistributed to culturally competent clinicians, who could be assigned offices in
the residence hall for late-night appointments or group sessions. Such reimaginations
of the RA role have already begun in higher education, as evidenced by George
Washington University's 2021 RA position overhaul (Mangan, 2021).
RAs in the study consistently described how the strategies they used to maintain
their well-being were self-taught. Even so, in-service professional development sessions
for RAs could continually enhance their individual strategies beyond a single training
session. Housing professionals could partner with expert clinicians to develop curricula
defining secondary trauma, well-being, and coping strategies. Breakout sessions that
RAs can opt into based on topic or identity can also be a way to further support the
intersections of institutional role and minoritized identity that they uniquely hold. Previous
research aligns with this recommendation, and training that teaches coping and
boundary-setting skills can improve RA well-being (McClure et al., 2022). Further, such
training would be most effective when RAs are also prepared for navigating national
traumas with their residents. Throughout, resources and spaces need to be developed
and delivered that are identity-affirming and specifically encourage minoritized student
well-being (Schuster & Stalker, 2020).
Finally, participants noted that supervisors with little experience in diversity,
equity, and inclusion and those with stereotypical expectations for RA job performance
negatively impacted their well-being. Residence life leaders should consider
A redesigned RA role can be entirely focused on community building
and educational programming.
14 The Journal of College and University Student Housing

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