Blog

It’s March and the sounds of Spring are in the air. By sounds of Spring, we mean the excessive honking of geese as they return from their winter vacays. Watch your step. 

As we head into the weekend and one of the most celebrated holidays around the world (St Patrick’s Day), it is a great time to talk about substance use health. 

Whether it’s green beer, regular beer, tobacco, caffeine, cannabis, or illicit drugs, substances are a fact of life.  In Canada, it is estimated that 78% of people over the age of 15 regularly use substances of some kind. With substances playing a consistent role in our lives, it’s important that we develop healthy relationships with them.

Substance use and mental health concerns among graduate students has been growing for some time. Allen, et al. (2017) explored how mental health symptoms and substance use varies between professional doctoral (engineering and business), academic doctoral (arts and behavioral science), and master’s students. 

Concerns about the impacts of imposter phenomenon on students and employees in higher education has been the focus of concern (and research) for some time. In recent years, the narrative around imposter phenomenon has begun to change. In this month’s newsletter, we will explore historical perspectives as well as the changing narrative around imposter phenomenon.

It’s Valentine's Day -- the perfect time to talk about sexual health! No this isn’t your cringe high school health class; however, most of us feel somewhat bashful about discussing sexual health. Because of the embarrassment and stigma about sexual health, many people delay seeking treatment resulting in larger and more impactful problems. 

This month, our spotlight shines on a pivotal piece of research that delves into the sexual and reproductive health experiences of international students in Western universities. Authored by a dedicated team from the College of Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, the study presents a critical literature review spanning over two decades of research. It uncovers the challenges international students face, from language barriers to navigating healthcare systems and cultural differences, highlighting the gap in comprehensive sexual health knowledge and the reliance on informal sources for information.

"Here’s a quote I once heard from a priest: If you don’t want to burn out, stop living like you’re on fire.” -Brene Brown

The term “burnout” was first introduced in 1974 by American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger to describe the consequences of severe stress and high ideals in human professions (social workers, teachers, nurses, police officers, physicians, etc.). Freudenberger defined burnout as “the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one's devotion to a cause or relationship fails to produce the desired results” (1974). In 1989, Byrne and Hall explored the impacts of the three dimensions of burnout (exhaustion, depersonalization/cynicism, and reduced personal accomplishment) on teachers, including university instructors, as well as the work-related stress factors that contribute to burnout. Byrne and Hall found that a combination of personal traits and organizational factors directly contributed to feelings of burnout.  

Research dating back to 1989 (possibly further) identified concerns about increasing employee stress levels occurring in higher education. As a result of the pandemic, numerous new studies on faculty burn-out have been initiated. A recent qualitive study by Koster and McHenry (2023) analyzed narrative comments on a survey assessing burnout and well-being to identify factors that contributed to faculty feelings of disengagement and exhaustion.

 

This month we are featuring research on the impacts of sexism, discrimination, and exclusion on the experience of female learners. New research from Georgia State University explores the differences in gender-based discrimination between STEM and non-STEM programs. Co-author Leah Daigle, a professor in Georgia State’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, says, “If you see an equal number of women and men in your classes, you might think that, by definition, the women are being treated fairly. But that’s not what our study shows. It should be a wake-up call for people to realize that even when people are not in the minority in a group, they can still be at risk for discrimination and harm.”

The Introduction:

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein

We all start the term running fast. We stay on top of classes, hang out with friends, go to the gym, and minimize our procrastination. We feel excited for a new period in our life; being able to get a fresh start at our goals can be very motivating to work hard towards them. The first 2, maybe 3 weeks of the term are often the best because we can stick with all the ambitious goals we’ve set out for ourselves. We sprint -- and moving fast never felt so good.