The Juggling Act: Considering the Multiple Role Memberships of Undergraduate Students

Jessica M. Nicklin, Ph.D., University of Hartford Katie Linehan, University of Hartford

Students face balancing many roles when they enter college, yet little attention is paid to how competing demands impact first year students. The workplace literature, however, has recognized for decades that multiple role memberships (work, family) can create perceptions of conflict, resulting in a host of negative consequences such as increased stress, burnout and turnover, and reductions in performance, engagement, and commitment (e.g., Amstad et al., 2011). While conflict is expected and reasonable occasionally, frequent and sustained conflict results in negative outcomes. Yet, research also shows that multiple role memberships can reap positive outcomes due to resources generated in one role (e.g., work) enriching another (e.g., McNall et al., 2010). For instance, a parent who must miss a child’s soccer game due to working late is a work-family conflict. Still, the same parent may build self-efficacy and flexibility at work that can positively enrich the family.

The same phenomena occur for students. Students may miss class due to family responsibilities (picking up a younger sibling from school) but may gain support from classmates that can help buffer the stress of family demands. While there is far less research applied to undergraduate students than working professionals, empirical evidence demonstrates that work-school conflict leads to negative outcomes, such as reduced grades and retention. In contrast, work-school enrichment leads to positive outcomes, such as increased grades and satisfaction (e.g., McNall & Michel, 2010). Conflict and enrichment are bi-directional and not mutually exclusive. Work can spill over to school, and the school can spill over to work. The same goes for the family: family can impact school, but the school can impact the family positively and negatively.

This topic is increasingly important for consideration as more students than ever report high levels of stress and burnout, concern over finances, working while going to school, and increased family responsibilities (e.g., ACHA, 2022). Faculty may attribute low engagement to a lack of motivation or ability when resources are depleted due to managing work, athletics, family, social, financial, personal, and academic obligations. From an intersectionality lens, it is essential to consider that work, family, and school prioritization differs widely by culture. For instance, Latin cultures emphasize family and often expect older siblings to look after younger ones and help with household chores (Fuligni et al., 2009), which may affect Latinx students’ prioritization. Therefore, to foster an inclusive and supportive first-year experience, faculty and staff must consider the whole student and the experiences brought to the classroom, which is only one of many life domains.

Moreover, because many first-year students live and work on campus, it is difficult, if not impossible, to create appropriate boundaries among work, school, and social domains. To complicate the issue further, the availability and prevalence of social media create a 24/7 culture, which leads to increased stress and anxiety (e.g., McKee et al., 2022) due to fear of missing out (also known as FOMO). For instance, a student looking at their phone while studying for an exam in the library might see that all their friends are at a party, which may create stress and anxiety. First-year students also feel pressured to devote time to “home friends” and “school friends,” parents may put undue pressure on students to come home and spend time with family during the first year. Therefore, it is unsurprising that conflict between personal life and school has been shown to lead to more stress than any other source of conflict for undergraduate students (Nicklin et al., 2020). Yet, there is a gap in preparing students and families for recognizing and responding to role conflict. Preparing students and families for managing multiple roles is a missed opportunity, given that simple awareness of these issues students face in their first year can reap many positive benefits. Below are recommendations for students and institutional leaders to manage the challenges of juggling it all.

Recommendations for Students

Seek out supportive relationships. Students should seek out quality relationships that provide social support to navigate competing demands. The need for relatedness reflects the desire to be valued, respected, and regarded as necessary by others and to have meaningful relationships (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Social support is critical for successful academic performance, persistence, and wellbeing (e.g., Nicpon et al., 2006), and this may be even more true for BIPOC students (e.g., Strayhorn, 2008). Students should seek meaningful and reciprocal relationships with their friends, family, classmates, advisors, faculty, and community and freely share what they need from these relationships to succeed in college.

Quality over quantity. It is not the number of relationships and experiences that matter but the quality of those relationships and experiences. In this 24/7, highly connected world, it is impossible to experience everything and meet everyone’s expectations. Students should focus more on quality experiences in their academic pursuits and personal relationships rather than the number of A’s earned or parties attended. A significant part of this is an awareness of one’s values and feeling empowered to say “no” when conflicting priorities exist.

Self-care. Students must incorporate self-care practices into daily routines to curtail conflict and stress. This does not need to be an arduous or expensive task. For instance, higher levels of mindfulness and self-compassion have been shown to reduce perceptions of school-personal-life conflict in undergraduate students (Nicklin et al., 2020). Therefore, something as simple as a mindful minute or self-compassion break can go a long way to buffer the effects of conflict and reduce stress and anxiety during the first year.

Recommendations for Institutions

Training. Mirroring the recommendations listed above, academic advisors and faculty must be aware of the challenges students face in transition and given tools and resources to respond to their evolving needs. Ongoing and new employee training should include a module on managing multiple role memberships and what this means for first-year students. Students also benefit when faculty and advisors are authentic and model how they navigate their competing demands. Furthermore, institutional leaders should invest in training products that aid in developing knowledge and skills of mental health issues, such as Kognito or Mental Health First Aid, which are both focused on skill-based learning for mental health and well-being. This will allow faculty and staff the opportunity to learn and grow continuously.

Orientation and first-year programming. Similarly, first-year seminars and orientations should cover topics such as recognizing and living one’s values, time management, and prioritization to support students in navigating their competing demands. For instance, when the mindfulness program Learning to BREATHE (L2B) was offered to first-year college students, there was a significant improvement in the students’ depression and anxiety levels and overall well-being (Dvořáková et al., 2017). When students can create space to reflect on their wants, needs, and values, they will be better equipped to manage the complexities of their lives. Further, conversations with parents around the pressures of conflicting roles should happen at orientation so they are better equipped to support their students while transitioning to college.

Self-care in the classroom. Faculty should give space for self-compassion and mindfulness experiences in the classroom. A one-minute mindfulness breathing break during class can help students reset their attention (e.g., O’Brien-Richardson, 2019). It has been shown that their attention wanes when students are focused on a singular task for an extended time. Because of this, a brief detour in attention is warranted (Ariga & Lleras, 2011). As students build skills in the classroom, they can apply those skills in other areas of their lives.

Conclusion

When students are underperforming or lack engagement, it is easy to assume that it is due to a lack of motivation or ability. However, leaders, faculty members, and academic advising staff must recognize students’ complex lives in their first year and beyond. The role of a student is only one of many competing roles, and how roles are valued and prioritized varies widely based on personal circumstances, cultural norms, and familial expectations. The same is true for academic leaders, who must also take time to recognize their sources of conflict and enrichment and how this impacts their relationships with students. Small systemic changes can reap large benefits for the academic community.

References

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Fuligni, A. J., Telzer, E. H., Bower, J., Irwin, M. R., Kiang, L., & Cole, S. W. (2009). Daily family assistance and inflammation among adolescents from Latin American and European backgrounds. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 23(6), 803-809. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2009.02.021

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Contact

Jessica M. Nicklin
nicklin@hartford.edu