Increased stress among female doctoral students.

Increased stress among women

Although most doctoral students feel fine and have a good relationship with their supervisor, an increasing number of the female doctoral students experience stress and anxiety. This is a worrying trend, say leading representatives for doctoral students, and suggest more training for supervisors.

THIS SPRING, the ST survey on the well-being of doctoral students was released, which was a follow-up from 2012. The results show that there are no dramatic differences compared to eight years ago. On the positive side, however, more people today are employed. – I was not particularly surprised when I read the report. The picture is in line with the surveys we conducted at the University of Gothenburg (in 2015 and 2020), which showed that 10–15 percent of doctoral students are dissatisfied. A worrying development is that female doctoral students seem to feel worse, have sleep problems and feel stressed, says doctoral student ombudsman Lotta Larsson at the University of Gothenburg’s student unions (GUS).

Her colleague Haruna Ohldin thinks it is lamentable that the situation has not improved significantly.

– FOR MOST PEOPLE, it is a fantastic time in their life. You get to devote yourself to something wholeheartedly for four years and get paid to do it – at the same time, it can be a trying and sensitive period. Making sure everyone feels good in a workplace should be an obvious thing to strive towards, she says.

The survey: Hur mår doktoranden? (How do doctoral students feel?) was produced by the trade union ST together with the SFS Doctoral Student Committee, and it confirms the assumption that working conditions for doctoral students are often difficult. Many people work when they are sick, they feel stressed and have sleep problems. Moreover, not that many of us can take four weeks of continuous vacation.

THAT MANY doctoral students find it difficult to stop thinking about work is perhaps not so strange considering that it is an education that is extremely demanding with both highs and lows. In ST’s survey, more than 35 percent of respondents answered that, on a daily basis or several times a week, they have difficulty thinking about anything other than the work related to their doctoral thesis. This applies especially to women, younger doctoral students and Swedish doctoral students. – It is very common to take the job home with you and of course it affects family life. Being a doctoral student is a special form of employment: you are both an employee and a student. You often end up in limbo – to which group do you really belong? Above all, you do not have that much time to complete it, four years effectively, including holidays, says Lotta Larsson.

The start of the education is one of the most important factors for success, she believes. – Being well taken care of at the department is absolutely crucial, so that doctoral students know what rules apply, who to contact if there are any problems, and who is responsible for their employment conditions and health and safety. Surprisingly, there are a lot of doctoral students who think that their supervisor is their immediate manager.

Hur mår doktoranden?

- en rapport från Fackförbundet ST och SFS doktorandkommitté om forskarstuderandes psykosociala arbetsmiljö

SFS

The survey How do doctoral students feel? shows that especially women experience a lot of stress. OF ALL THOSE WHO seek support and help, the most common problem they mention is their supervisor – women are generally more dissatisfied than men. – If the relationship with your supervisor is not working, it can be traumatic. Even though from a legal perspective, you have the right to change supervisors, it is not that simple. Your individual study plan, ISP, which must be renewed at least once a year, is the most important document. It states whether you have had sufficient time for supervision or not.

Part of the solution is to invest more in the training of supervisors, Lotta Larsson believes. – If there are repeated short-

Increased stress among women

Lotta Larsson

Photo: VIOLETTA KOVACKA

Haruna Ohldin

Photo: PRIVATE

comings with your supervisor, the head of department has an obligation to do something about it. The most successful researchers are not always the best supervisors. Therefore, we propose that a kind of driver’s licence for supervisors be introduced, which must be updated on a regular basis.

Alex Cravcenco, Chairman of the University of Gothenburg’s Doctoral Student Committee and an expert in the ST survey, thinks this is a good idea.

– It is important to structure the education into different parts: one part for supervisors, another part about how to write an individual study plan and a third part about how to work with planning doctoral projects.

He also proposes that national guidelines and local policies be established where the doctoral students’ rights and obligations are described. – Currently, it varies between different universities, and this creates confusion and ambiguity. Common routines would create the conditions for better mental health.

Therefore, we propose that a kind of driver’s licence for supervisors be introduced.

LOTTA LARSSON ANOTHER VULNERABLE group are foreign doctoral students: 40 percent of the younger doctoral students (under 29 years of age) at the University of Gothenburg come from another country. Almost half of the foreign doctoral students work overtime several days a week. – Many do not know their rights and obligations. It is important that everyone feels welcome at work. Then there is the language barrier, many doctoral students feel left out when Swedish is spoken during coffee breaks, says Lotta Larsson.

Another result of the survey is that almost a third of doctoral students at the University of Gothenburg do not feel comfortable expressing criticism. Lotta Larsson thinks this is deeply problematic. – Dreadfully unfortunate. It should be an open forum and you should be free to discuss different opinions at a university. But sometimes it can be difficult to be critical of your supervisor because the doctoral student is in a position of dependence.

Allan Eriksson

FACTS

The trade union ST and the SFS Doctoral Student Committee have, with the help of Statistics Sweden, carried out a comprehensive survey of almost 1,000 doctoral students (2,000 questionnaires were sent out). Hur mår doktoranden? is a survey produced by the trade union ST in collaboration with SFS during the autumn of 2020.

Here are some of the most important results:

– The majority of doctoral students have doctoral employment and the vast majority have a good relationship with their supervisor. – A fifth have difficulty sleeping as a result of their work a couple of days a week. – A quarter have to work overtime several days a week, especially foreign doctoral students. – Just over a fifth stated that they have not been able to take holidays. – About 30 percent do not think that the individual study plan (IPS) is meaningful.

During the pandemic at the

University of Gothenburg: Last year, sick leave increased for doctoral students, especially women. The Faculty of Humanities had the highest rate of sick leave with an average of 7.8 percent. Sick leave for women is highest, almost 10 percent, at the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Science and the School of Business, Economics and Law. On the other hand, it is better at Sahlgrenska Academy, which has the highest number of doctoral students (approximately 940), where only 3 percent were on sick leave in 2020. In 2019, Nature published a major international study which showed that 36 percent of 6,300 doctoral students sought help for anxiety and depression connected to their studies.