Young Professionals’ Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey
The Mary Christie Institute, in partnership with AACU, NACE and the Healthy Minds Network, has surveyed recent college graduates about their experiences related to mental wellbeing in the transition from college to career. The survey, conducted by Morning Consult, examined young professionals’ mental and emotional concerns in the transition from college to career; expectations and beliefs around mental health after graduation; the role that mental health plays in productivity and engagement at work, the development of skills needed for a modern workforce, and post-graduation decision-making. Other topic areas explored in this survey include recent graduates’ perceptions regarding support systems in post-graduate life and the culture of the workplace, understanding of services available and their accessibility, and experiences, expectations and beliefs related to the preparation for transitioning to career.
To disseminate findings, the report will be released to our audience and the media; and at a webinar in January.
Mental and Behavioral Health
Main Stories
Inside Higher Ed considers the role faculty can play in upholding student mental health. Mental health experts suggest that professors could be a critical resource for students who are struggling, although educators are more split on what they want their role to be. Many are willing to and even enthusiastic about supporting student wellbeing, but they want more institutional or other direction to prepare them for the task, according to a survey from the Mary Christie Institute. But faculty are also emotionally drained and may view taking on a responsibility for student mental health as overwhelming and beyond their already extensive job descriptions.
The Chronicle suggests that the recent lawsuit against Yale University for allegedly discriminating against students with mental health issues captures the pressure on colleges today to accommodate students who need treatment. The Yale case stems largely from complaints that administrators coerce students into involuntary medical withdrawals after a mental health crisis. Students may feel more prepared to advocate for themselves and their right to accommodations, The Chronicle proposes, as stigmas lessen. In an op-ed for CNN, journalist and University of Minnesota history professor David M. Perry also writes that mental health accessibility and discrimination issues are not exclusive to high-profile cases like Yale, which may in fact be “just the tip of the iceberg, a tiny visible sliver of an immense problem across higher education”
Other News
Healthcare Dive covers a report from TimelyMD, finding that while most college students look forward to going home for the holidays, many also anticipate the stress of dealing with family (49%), travel (41%) and finances (38%).
The New York Times reports on the new restrictions to online sports betting that have popped up since its scrutiny of the industry’s unfettered growth, specifically on college campuses, and the risks it poses for young people.
The Times also explores the controversial ideas of Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, whose longtime advocacy for compulsive outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illness is now rubbing off on policy changes in New York City.
The Washington Post notes the trend of public schools partnering with telehealth companies to meet demand for mental health services—and often funding these ventures with covid relief money that will eventually run out.
Forbes considers how social media is a “double-edged sword” for college student wellbeing, making them feel as if they’re missing out if they don’t participate but taking a negative toll on their mental health if they participate too much.
Also in Forbes, author and college counseling director Brennan Barnard describes the emotionally trying experience of applying to colleges and offers students ways to approach coping with disappointment.
According to Forbes Health, a survey it conducted with OnePoll suggests that improved mental health is the most common New Year’s resolution among respondents in general (45%) but especially 18- to 25-year-olds (50%).
The 74 highlights a survey from YouthTruth, revealing that mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, and stress, are the most common barrier to learning for secondary students.
Fortune finds that some young students struggling with their mental health are turning to special education for help, but questions about whether their problems are chronic or a direct result of the pandemic make some wary of this approach.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviews the results of the CDC’s 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey in Wisconsin, where more than half of high schoolers reported feeling anxious in the last year (52%) and knowing someone who died or was hospitalized due to Covid (54%).
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The Hechinger Report highlights the intense emotional toll that the mass of proposed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, some of which has passed, is taking on queer and trans students who are generally more at risk for mental health challenges and suicide. While supportive community members and affinity groups may provide some relief, The Chronicle notes that U.S. courts have recently protected faculty rights to treat students according to their religious beliefs, including by ignoring their preferred pronouns. The question becomes, do these court rulings obscure, or obliterate, the point at which the discrimination or abuse of professors goes too far?
Open Campus offers a window into “the fragility of prison education.” While research affirms the positive outcomes of prison education, including reduced violence and recidivism, programs are few and far between. And when one program shuts down, there’s no ensuring incarcerated students on their way to a degree will be able to continue.
Student Buzz
For The Daily Princetonian, Princeton’s president defends his view that “a challenging, high-aspiration academic environment is fully consistent with, and even helpful to, student mental health.”
The Minnesota Daily reports on the latest efforts from University of Minnesota to improve student wellbeing by working with faculty to design and teach courses in a way that is mindful of mental health.
According to Colorado College’s The Catalyst, administrators organized a panel of students and providers to discuss mental health resources on campus, but some student advocates say the meeting was “more theater than substance.”
The Middlebury Campus announces the arrival of the college’s new director of counseling in a moment when students have been struggling with their mental health and asking for a wider variety of services.
The editorial board for The Ithacan promotes the need to attend to the mental health of athletes in light of the college’s upcoming sports psychology programs focused on wellbeing and stigma reduction.
The Daily Collegian talks with Penn State students about how they approach maintaining a work-life balance in school and the challenges of developing time management skills.
Student Success
According to Higher Ed Dive, a recent report from Complete College America suggests on-time graduation rates rose in most U.S. states between 2016 and 2021, although part-time students struggled more than full-time students to finish in six-years. Efforts to improve student retention and completion are ongoing, including in California where Higher Ed Dive says a coalition of higher education groups are partnering with colleges to re-enroll students lost during the pandemic. For Higher Ed Dive, University of Arizona Global Campus Paul Pastorek argues that schools can strengthen student success by ending partnerships with online program management companies and shifting the responsibility onto themselves. Inside Higher Ed then reports that Vassar College will be helping dozens of other schools develop community college transfer programs like its own.
In addition to retention, enrollment, especially among marginalized groups, is a major concern of higher education experts. In The Hechinger Report, an op-ed from school psychologist David Adams, a native of Ohio’s Appalachian foothills, offers several policy recommendations for improving enrollment among students from rural areas. Higher Ed Dive, on the other hand, covers a new report suggesting that “low-intensity recruitment strategies” are not effective at increasing enrollment among non-traditional students like veterans.
To what extent are colleges able to help students find jobs? While there are now thousands of programs offering a million credentials (literally), Inside Higher Ed suggests experts actually know very little about which credentials most benefit student outcomes. Then, Inside Higher Ed features a report identifying dysfunction in partnerships between community colleges and employers. And prospects for advancement are so grim for some that a doctoral program director at the Indiana University at Bloomington warned students they were not on track to “middle-class life,” also according to Insider Higher Ed. For aspiring journalists, Higher Ed Dive says, career payoffs are possible with the right degree, but jobs in the field are diminishing.
College Affordability
Higher Ed Dive reveals the outlook on higher education has taken a downward turn since last year, as the bond rating agency Fitch Ratings suggests credit is “stable but deteriorating.” While Fitch notes that inflation has allowed colleges to raise tuition to keep their own credit in check, MPR News describes how inflation and the escalating cost of living are also threatening the academic future of community college students.
In an op-ed for The Chronicle, Louisiana State University urban planning professor James Nguyen Spencer calls higher education a “public good” deserving of the federal funding that services like water, transportation and electricity receive. Thus, Spencer’s commentary invokes the larger debate bringing into question the “worth” of higher education. According to Inside Higher Ed, public university systems from across the country are coming together in an effort to prove the value of higher ed, including “by setting concrete goals for institutions to increase credential attainment, improve social mobility, and reduce student debt.”
Substance Use
The Washington Post dives into the “strategic blunders and cascading mistakes” reporters say the U.S. government made that paved the way for the fentanyl crisis currently plaguing Americans. Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death in the country for 18- to 49-year-olds—including college students.
Basic Needs
Attention to the ongoing student housing crisis continues. Forbes describes the building projects at colleges across the country, as they try to create more housing options for students and renovate current options in disrepair. At Fisk University, NewsChannel5 Tennessee reports a spike in enrollment has led to the construction of a new dorm and, until it’s complete, the use of converted shipping containers as “micro apartments” to meet housing demands. CNN also covers how one New York nonprofit, the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, is helping housing insecure students afford rent, as well as other basic needs services.
Campus Safety
Inside Higher Ed highlights how schools are using reporting services to allow community members to flag suspicious activity they notice on campus. But new research from Health Education and Behavior indicates that the efficacy of these systems is questionable and the best options among them are not always clear.
