Graduate students under pressure

Abstract

Education Graduate students in STEM are facing an escalating mental health crisis. How can the STEM community best understand and address the factors underlying the well-being of graduate students? Sverdlik and Hall recruited 3004 doctoral students, who completed an online survey, to determine whether doctoral program phase (coursework, comprehensive examination, or dissertation) had an effect on well-being levels (stress, depression, program satisfaction, and illness symptoms) and motivation (self-determined motivation and self-efficacy). Results showed that well-being and motivation are high during the coursework phase and very low during the comprehensive examination phase. Although this work is preliminary, it suggests that departmental efforts to clarify expectations and provide support during this transition may help to mitigate this expected drop in well-being levels. J. Adult Contin. Educ. 10.1177/1477971419842887 (2019).