2 CAMPUS NEWS
campus Red & Black
3 may 2022
W&J Stress Culture Drastically Heightens observing in her students during the Fall 2021 semester. “Behaviorally, they seemed very stressed,” Dr. Bradshaw said in a November interview. “I’ve had a couple students express this to me.” Dr. Bradshaw said the pandemic has added stress to students, noting the unique unpredictability, accommodations needed, the chronic nature of the pandemic, and online learning. “Students have expressed to me that if they’re sick and need to quarantine or stay out of classes, the Courtesy Washinton & Jefferson College accommodations aren’t October 27, 2020 - Jason Kilgore, Ph.D., associate professor of biology, teaches a class in consistently held across Dieter-Porter on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College. classes, some professors offer online options and regarding world events like climate others do not,” she said. akansha das change and mass shootings. The Pew W&J freshman Kalea Umali agreed Research Center noted that teens rank with Dr. Bradshaw’s statement through Red & Black anxiety and depression as the highest an email exchange. Editor-in-chief of their problems as of 2019. “The most stressful factor related Given the fluid mixture of teen to W&J has to be the uncertainty Stress has taken on a new meaning years and adulthood in college, it’s surrounding virtual options between for young adults in the last couple years, not surprising that similar trends can students and professors,” Umali said. even before the COVID-19 pandemic be seen in college students as well. Umali specified that when she hit. As of 2018, The American Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. needed to take time out of the Psychological Association reported Hannah Bradshaw expressed deep classroom due to COVID exposure or Generation Z having the highest stress concern for the rising levels of stress emergent situations she felt that she among the study’s various age groups and anxiety she was hearing and received very “scattered” responses.
“Some allowed me a virtual option, some offered to meet online later to go over things I missed, and some simply did not,” she said. “It felt as though I was being penalized for things out of my control, even when I was doing everything a student was supposed to do.” “COVID guidelines changed frequently and professors’ lives are very busy, which makes it hard to make accommodations in scenarios such as mine,” Umali added. Dean of Students & Vice-President of Student Life Eva Chatterjee-Sutton stated over email correspondence that there has been abundant communication between faculty and administration supporting a smooth transition, including asking faculty to have policies to accommodate students who may need to miss class. Ultimately, because of the differing demands of each class, Dean Chatterjee-Sutton wrote, “the type of accommodation that best suits the course instruction are determined by each individual faculty member.” Dr. Bradshaw also commented about the toll two years of unpredictability has taken on students, citing research that indicates that uncertainty is often tougher to deal with than sheer harshness. “The lack of consistency is a really big stressor,” she said. Story continues on page 3
