Psychosocial Impacts of COVID-19 and Racial Injustice on Undergraduate Summer Research Experience Trainees

Abstract

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic that began in Spring 2020 and the subsequent period of social unrest due to police brutality against Black Americans and racial injustice have posed profound challenges to college students and academic programs across the U.S. Summer research experiences (SREs) were challenged to quickly pivot research training curricula and activities to a virtual format while ramping up activities that would bolster support and safety networks for student trainees, many of whom were socially isolated, fearful of the health and safety of themselves and their loved ones, while worried about the uncertainty of their academic future. This study investigates the nature of the concerns and worries that undergraduate trainees experienced during the tumultuous summer of 2020 and what program factors, if any, were able to potentially mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and racial injustice on these concerns. Specifically, this study evaluates basic needs, mental health, and academic concerns in the context of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded SRE, examining how student concerns and their relationship to program factors vary by demographic and academic characteristics. Methods. Forty-five undergraduate trainees participated in a NIH-funded 8-week summer research training program in 2020 (64% female; 67% Under-Represented Minority [URM] students) and completed an online post-survey. Items assessed student perceptions of the virtual SRE, program activities, student experiences related to COVID-19 (Latkin & Dayton, 2020), and impacts of the racial strife and related social justice activism. Closed-ended, Likert scale-type items assessed students’ time management skills and sense of belonging. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) established four outcome domains: students’ personal needs concerns (α=.90), stress and mental health concerns (α=.89), academic concerns (α=.83) and impacts of anti-Black racism (single item measure). Independent t-tests (correlations) assessed differences (relationships) of student concerns by demographics and key variables of interest. Due to the paucity of research on these topics and exploratory nature of our questions, an alpha of .10 was selected. Results. Intercorrelations revealed that the outcomes were moderately related, yet distinct (rs = .24, -.56). Students were somewhat concerned about their personal needs (M = 2.05, SD = 0.81), very concerned about their stress and mental health (M = 2.79, SD = 0.80), and extremely concerned about their academics (M = 3.90, SD = 0.88). In addition, anti-Black racism, and society’s response to it, impacted students to a moderate extent (M = 3.60, SD = 1.10). Students who received financial aid and transferred from a two-year institution had higher personal concerns than those who did not (ps = .001, .030, ds = 0.86, 0.71). Additionally, URM students indicated higher personal needs concerns than non-URM students (p = .093; d = 0.54). Mental health concerns differed by gender such that women reported greater mental health concerns than men (p = .098, d = 0.52). Biomedical majors had higher academic concerns than behavioral majors (p = .056; d = 0.58). Students indicating poverty experienced higher anti-Black racism impacts than those that did not (p = .099, d = 0.62). Students who felt stronger relationships with research group members indicated lower stress/mental health concerns and academic concerns (rs = -.29, -.45; ps = .089, .007 respectively). Additionally, positive working relationships with training director(s) were negatively related to academic concerns (r = -.32, p = .040) such that higher quality of relationship was related to lower academic concerns. Feeling part of the SRE community was inversely related to personal needs concerns, academic concerns, and anti-Black racism impacts (rs =-.29,-.50,-.27; ps = .059, .001, .068), and feeling connected to members of the SRE community was also inversely related to both personal needs and academic concerns (rs = -.25,-.55; ps = .097, <.001). With respect to time management, meeting deadlines was inversely related to all outcomes. Students who were highly likely to meet deadlines and hand work in on time had lower personal needs concerns, stress/mental health concerns, academic concerns, and anti-Black racism impacts (rs = -.43, -.31, -.57, -.30; ps = .003, .042, <.001, .045). Students who indicated they were able to balance responsibilities (e.g., research, classes, school, home, family, friends) also indicated lower stress/mental health concerns and academic concerns (rs = -.34, -.63; ps = .022, < .001). On the other hand, students with lower prioritization skills and self-awareness of study habits had higher academic concerns (rs = -.37, -.26; ps = .013, .084). Discussions and Conclusions. This study provides a snapshot of worries and concerns of undergraduate students who participated in a SRE during the summer of COVID-19 and racial unrest. As expected, SRE students experienced a wide range of concerns related to COVID and racial injustice, similar to students at other U.S institutions (e.g., Nelson et al., 2020). Results reinforce the need for academic programs like SREs to help mitigate student concerns across domains (basic needs, mental health and academic). SRE students who felt connected to their research groups and SRE program directors, as well as to the SRE community, fared better both personally and academically. While the cross-sectional nature renders the directional causality inconclusive, the associations underscore the importance of programs fostering a safe and supportive academic research environment to undergraduate trainees (e.g., Urlaub, 2020). As many programmatic modifications were made instantaneously in reaction to the societal factors such as the pandemic and social unrest, understanding the value of academic based support, as evidenced by this study, is critical. Future research in this area should focus on investigating the impact and effectiveness of specific program modifications.