A. Welcome and Overview…Graduate Student Mental Health
“Everyone at EKU can make a positive and lasting impact on the well-being of graduate students and on the health and inclusiveness of program environments.” What keeps you up at night? What worries do you have in your life that continue to weigh you down each day? Unfortunately, graduate students are not immune to stress and in fact, recent studies have noted alarming statistics regarding the mental health crisis of this nation’s graduate students. From imposter syndrome and feelings of being out of place, to isolation and to constant short and long-term deadlines, graduate school presents serious challenges to students’ mental health. Not to mention financial challenges, relationships with advisors, faculty and colleagues, the impending job market and other life worries. According to a recent study involving a survey of 3500 graduate students at twelve public institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, 67% of respondents scored low on wellbeing factors; 32% had symptoms of PTSD; 35% had moderate or higher levels of depression; and 33% had moderate or higher levels of anxiety (Ogilvie et al., 2020). Additionally, a 2018 Harvard University study found that 18% of doctoral students experience moderate or severe symptoms of depression and anxiety, which is more than three times the population average (Barreira et. al.).
While there is a dearth of research in this area, one study was managed approximately 30 minutes up I-75 at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Nathan Vanderford at the UK College of Medicine recognized the lack of research and collaborated with researchers at the University of Texas Health San Antonio. Their study is entitled, “Evidence for a Mental Health Crisis in Graduate Education,” and was published in the March 2018 issue of Nature Biotechnology. In short, the study found that 41 percent of graduate students scored in the moderate to severe range for anxiety and depression, respectively. Further, female and transgender students had higher rates of anxiety and depression while healthy work-life balance and positive mentoring relationships correlated with lower rates of anxiety and depression. This data indicates a need for mental health services that are focused on graduate students.
THE GRADUATE QUARTERLY – Q4 – AY 2020/2021
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