Mental Health Survey of Student Research Workers(2023)

Min Young Park

Translated by Min Young Park

Reviewed by Joe DiGangi

Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health

Introduction

Lack of social recognition of graduate students as workers

Since most graduate students do not sign labor contracts in South Korea, and because of their status as students, the provision of labor is often viewed by society as a learning process. It is necessary to take a closer look and hear first-hand accounts of graduate students who are on the borderline between learning and labor to see what kind of work they are doing, whether they are being paid fairly for their labor, and what the research and academic environment is like.

Lack of data on recurring and pervasive mental health issues 

Mental health problems among graduate students have been reported repeatedly over the years and are likely to be higher than in the general population or other industry groups. While some aspects of mental health have been investigated using simplified mental health questionnaires, no studies have been conducted using a structured mental health questionnaire. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the mental health status and prevalence of problems among student research workers using specific general health and mental health indicators.

Lack of research exploring systemic causes

The lack of identification of organizational causes of mental health has resulted in counseling interventions that focus on individual factors, and only solutions such as operating counseling centers are provided. It is necessary to explore the organizational causes that may affect the deterioration of mental health of student research workers and seek ways to protect mental health through the process of linking cause and effect.

Methods

Methodology and eligibility criteria for surveys

All surveys were conducted online. We targeted full-time graduate students at the master’s level and above (master’s, doctoral, and combined master’s and doctoral programs), and included non-degree completers. We excluded majors in the fine arts (music, art, and physical education), medical, dental, pharmacy, law, business, and specialty graduate programs in education and teaching, as we expected their characteristics to be very different. The survey was conducted from September 15 to October 20, 2023, for approximately five weeks.

Survey Items

A structured questionnaire was developed based on a review of the results of existing surveys, a literature review of previous studies on graduate students’ mental health risk factors, and the results of four preliminary interviews (first round). The questionnaire consisted of four main items: basic information, graduate students’ research environment, basic health status, and mental health.

Analyzing the survey and deriving results

The statistical analysis was conducted by frequency analysis for each item of the survey to identify the research environment and health problems and to reveal the size of the high-risk group for mental health. To explore risk factors that adversely affect mental health, multiple logistic regression analysis using the forced entry method was performed to obtain odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals.

Methodology and eligibility criteria for in-depth interviews

Ten people participated in the in-depth interview. Participants were selected according to their gender, majors, and coursework completion. The same criteria were used to select participants for the in-depth interviews as for the survey. The interviews were conducted from May to November 2023, and each interview lasted approximately two hours.

In-depth interview items

The interview content consisted of graduate students’ daily routines, income and economic conditions, perceptions of labor, contractual arrangements and wage payment, work hours and workload, research environment, interpersonal relationships, mental health status, stressors, and support systems.

Results

Selection of participants

We included 365 participants who faithfully responded to the basic information and mental health questionnaires in the analysis. Of these, 300 respondents completed the survey about their work environment and health behaviors.

Basic analysis of the survey

Among the respondents, 38.9% and 20.0% were master’s (in coursework) and doctoral (all but dissertations) degree students, respectively. The majority of the respondents were engineering and natural science majors, accounting for 31.2% and 26.0%, respectively, followed by humanities and social science majors, accounting for 25.5%.

When asked about the on-campus work they had experienced, most of the respondents had worked as teaching assistants or project researchers. The most common reason for doing on-campus work was that it was a task that had been done routinely and traditionally in the supervisor’s laboratory.

About 15.9% of them answered that they had no fixed income. Among those who answered that they had a fixed income, the most common answer was labor costs for project participation (62.3%), and nearly 61.7% answered that they worked as teaching assistants or received scholarships from universities.

About 33.2% of the students responded that they were not receiving adequate and sufficient guidance from their advisors. More than 10% of the respondents have experienced research ethics violations and inappropriate work instructions related to their academic advisor, and about 37% have received personal contact outside of working hours. About 40.4% of respondents said they had experienced conflict with their advisors, and 8.2% said they had responded when they witnessed or experienced an unfair situation, but far more respondents said they had not responded.

During their time in graduate school, 19.9% and 23.5% of students reported experiencing verbal abuse and insulting behaviour, respectively. When job stress was examined, 44-45% of the respondents were in the top 50% of the standard score for job demands and relationship conflicts, and more than 30% were in the top 25% of the standard score.

Basic analysis of health status

The diagnosis rates for depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorders were approximately 30.7%, 23.0%, 19.5%, and 9.6%, respectively. The mental health questionnaire revealed that 34.8% of the participants had suspected clinical depression, 29.0% had moderate anxiety, and 14.8% were at risk for insomnia. In addition, 20.2% of the participants had experienced a suicidal ideation in the past year, which is very high compared to the general population, even when accounting for age and gender. Suicide planning and attempts were also high, at 7.7% and 2.2%, respectively. Burnout syndrome was identified in 18.1% of all respondents, with many scoring high on the ineffectiveness and exhaustion scales.

Exploring mental health risk factors

To explore the risk factors for mental health among graduate students, we conducted a multiple logistic regression analysis adjusting for age, gender, major field, and coursework/completion category, with the following variables: current fixed income, experience of conflict with advisor, balancing work hours with family and social life, organizational fairness, effort-reward imbalance during job stress, and experience of violence.

Currently not having a fixed income, having low organizational fairness, having difficulty balancing family and social life due to long work hours, and having a high effort-reward imbalance were associated with a higher risk of depression. When analyzing the specific items of organizational fairness, low procedural fairness appeared to be the strongest risk factor. Difficulty balancing work hours with family and social life, effort-reward imbalance, and experience of violence were identified as risk factors for anxiety.

For depression and anxiety, effort-reward imbalance was a significant risk factor for science majors, and difficulty juggling family and social life due to work hours was a significant risk factor for liberal arts majors.

Experiences of violence were found to be a consistent risk factor for suicidal thoughts and plans. It was also found that the risk of burnout syndrome is higher when there is no fixed income, when work hours make it difficult to balance family and social life, and when there is a high effort-reward imbalance.

Characteristics differentiated by major

Science majors often work in laboratories and are provided with designated research spaces, where they do most of their research and have relatively defined working hours. Because the performance of advisors is based on what students produce in projects and the publication of their papers, professors often impose expectations on students and control their workload, which often leads to excessive work and long hours.

In the liberal arts or social science, research space is often not provided, and the support structure from peers is weak, including lack of information and emotional support. The concept of working hours was not clear, making it difficult to disconnect from graduate work at home. When participating in a project, the labor cost is small due to the small size of the project or the small amount of research funding, so they often work outside the university. Also, the professor’s performance is often not included in the student’s performance, so there is a lot of laxity in supervising students.

Harsh conditions for graduate students

The amount of work assigned to graduate students was high in absolute terms. The amount of work generated from projects is as much as the advisor assigns. There is also a lack of the concept of quid pro quo, as students are expected to work on projects they do not want to, and compensation is very limited regardless of the number of projects or workload. Assistantships are often done because they are customary, regardless of the need or size of the monetary reward, and often result in work that is not time-efficient. Additionally, officially, graduate students do not have vacation days and are not guaranteed a break.

Graduate students typically need tuition and living expenses to support themselves. Student labor costs are limited regardless of workload, as they are capped by the government, and dependency is further reinforced at this point because it is the advisor who is the link between tuition and financial support for living expenses.

The reputation of graduate students in academia is mainly based on the quality and quantity of their research output, whether or not they get a degree, and the recommendation of their advisors. As a result, professors are absolute, not only now but also in the future.

Graduate student mental health

A significant number of graduate students reported having experienced, being in the midst of, or knowing someone who had experienced a mental health crisis. Most commonly, they reported depression, anxiety, and panic, and in some cases, a worsening of a pre-existing mental illness.

Some students find themselves in a state of burnout, experiencing mental exhaustion, losing the meaning of what graduate school is all about and becoming cynical. The pressure to perform can lead to anxiety and depression. They may also experience feelings of disbelief as they prioritize the various tasks they perform to maintain a good relationship with their advisors over the work they should be doing as researchers and students.

Economic hardship also contributes to emotional burnout.  It is an emotional burden to receive inadequate income despite working long hours and not being able to take on additional work or finding enough time to study.

Finally, many graduate students felt disrespected by the enforced dependent relationship with their advisors. What began as mild remarks and repeated criticisms escalated to verbal abuse and assault, and some professors exerted excessive control over their students, micromanaging and humiliating them. Students themselves often resorted to long hours of labor as a way of coping, creating and exacerbating mental health risks.

Discussion and Conclusions

1. Graduate students’ pain revealed by surveys and interviews

Mental health crisis among graduate students as revealed by survey results

Current clinically suspected depression and moderate or severe anxiety disorder were also reported in the mental health questionnaire at 34.8% (127) and 29.0% (106), respectively. Suicidal ideation and specific suicide plans in the past year were also very high, at 20.2% (73) and 7.7% (28), respectively (2021 general population: 4.4% suicidal ideation and 1.3% suicide plans).

Mental health risk factors

In the risk factor exploration analysis using the survey results, not currently having a fixed income was found to have an impact on depression and burnout syndrome. Many interviewees had experienced financial difficulties that forced them to work more hours, which in turn led to difficulties in finding time for personal research activities, longer degrees and commitments, and a vicious cycle of mental burnout and helplessness.

Low procedural fairness was found to have an impact on depression, which seems to be related to the dependency and closed nature of graduate school organizations identified in the interviews.

Effort-reward imbalance has been shown to contribute to depression, anxiety, and burnout syndrome. Graduate students often find themselves in a situation where they have no other choice but to invest effort, as it is very difficult to change advisors or switch universities. They are also investing effort as a strategic choice because they have goals for their future after earning their degree. In the end, they are providing excessive effort for insufficient reward, which can lead to overcommitment.

The risk of depression, anxiety, and burnout syndrome has been shown to be higher among those who struggle to juggle family and social life due to work hours. In our interviews, we found that liberal arts or social science students often do not have access to a study space, which can lead to a blurring of personal and professional boundaries. It seems that the lack of a personal study space can interfere with the separation of work and rest, causing them to constantly think about their work, which can lead to feelings of pressure and anxiety.

In the survey risk factor analysis, the experience of violence was found to be a very strong risk factor for suicidal ideation and suicide plans, as well as anxiety. In a previous study of the impact of violence on suicidal ideation, suicide attempts were found to be 2.4 times more likely to occur when violence was repeated than when it was a one-time event, and in the actual interviews, participants who repeatedly experienced insults or verbal abuse from their advisors were more likely to report extreme anxiety in face-to-face situations, depression, and suicidal ideation.

2. Improvement plans

Create an environment that strengthens responsibility to graduate students

Advisors should be more than just lecturers to graduate students, they should work with them on their research and provide them with appropriate advice and support for their future. Transparent labor processing and payment is also essential.

Rather than relying solely on the individual advisor to manage graduate students, graduate schools should expand their role as employers of students. It is necessary to find ways to utilize the existing faculty evaluation system so that it can play an effective role in the education of graduate students as intended, while also serving as a new system of supervision.

Written agreements and contracts for safe research activities

Written agreements in the form of assistantship agreements and research participation agreements are in place for more labor-intensive work such as teaching assistantships and project research, but they do not specify a clear scope of work similar to an employment contract or protect the rights of graduate students. In addition, it is easy to be ordered to do work outside the expected scope of work or to be ordered to do unfair or inappropriate work. Therefore, procedures should be put in place to ensure that graduate students are provided with the scope of various tasks to be performed during the course in advance in writing and be given sufficient time and explanation.

Financial hardship for graduate students is an important and significant issue that has been noted repeatedly in previous surveys. In the context of financial support, it is necessary to improve the equitable scholarship system, expand the number and scope of scholarship recipients, and improve the environment in which students can receive fair compensation for their work. Adequate disclosure of information on admission fees and the use of tuition fees, benefits and welfare commensurate with tuition fees, the organization and delivery of diverse and enriching courses, and the provision and management of study and rest areas and facilities should also be improved. In addition, the reality of graduate school, where it is difficult to graduate in a regular semester, needs to be changed, and a support system needs to be put in place for the large number of students who have already completed their coursework.

Mandatory provision of physical research space

Graduate students in the liberal arts or social science are often not provided with a lab space unless their research requires a typical laboratory space. If the project is not funded, then space is not provided. This isolation can lead to mental health vulnerabilities, as they are unable to interact with their peers for information and emotional support. In addition, physical space can also serve as a separation between work and life, making it a necessary improvement.

Graduate students need “absolute time” to recover physically and mentally.

Graduate students do not take time off when the school is not in session. In addition, schools do not have a vacation system for graduate students. Advisors should be aware of the need for rest and basic guidelines for graduate students to recover, and should emphasize the need to establish and support the implementation of a safety and health management system in each laboratory so that they can take responsibility for improving working conditions as appropriate.

Graduate Student Stakeholder Organizations

Organized efforts to change conditions for graduate students can be a powerful force for long-term improvement and regular monitoring of conditions. In the U.S., graduate schools are collectively bargained through negotiations between individual graduate student unions at each university and the university, which guarantees a range of rights, including wage standards, limits on working hours, health insurance, and paid sick leave. In South Korea, the Korean Graduate Employee Union has been in existence since 2018 and works to protect the rights of graduate students.

Create a more specialized system for mental health crisis intervention

Most importantly, we need a system to identify those who need emergency intervention right now and help them get out of crisis. We should continue to provide mental health information to graduate students where they can be easily exposed to it. In addition, consideration should be given to crisis intervention through the use of on-campus counseling centers to provide “graduate student-specific psychological counseling programs” and mental health monitoring. Furthermore, we should seek to recognize and systematically manage mental health crises among graduate students on a national level, rather than through short-term interventions on a small scale within graduate schools.