Balancing family life and rigorous graduate programs impacts completion rates and mental health.
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Retrieved evidence demonstrates that graduate student caregivers experience documented links between caregiving responsibilities and emotional distress, depression, anxiety, and academic outcomes, supporting the claim that balancing family life and graduate education impacts mental health and academic progress.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Evidence suggests that female neurosurgeons experience unique challenges in the workplace including lack of academic advancement, challenges with work-life balance, harassment, and discrimination. How these factors influence the gender gap in neurosurgery remains unclear. This analysis investigated gender differences in pediatric neurosurgeons in professional and nonprofessional activities and responsibilities. METHODS: A survey examining professional activities, work-life balance, family dynamics, career satisfaction, and workplace discrimination and harassment was administered to 495 pediatric neurosurgeons. Response rate was 49% (n = 241). RESULTS: One-third of the pediatric neurosurgical workforce is female. There were no gender differences in race/ethnicity, American Board of Neurological Surgery/American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery certification rates, or pediatric neurosurgery fellowship completion. No gender differences were found in operative caseload, weekly hours worked, or working after 8 pm or weekends. Women took call more frequently than men (P = .044). Men were more likely to work in academia (P = .004) and have salary subsidization from external sources (P = .026). Women were more likely to anticipate retirement by age 65 years (P = .044), were less happy with call commitments (P = .012), and worked more hours at home while off (P = .050). Women more frequently reported witnessing and experiencing racial discrimination (P = .008; P < .001), sexual harassment (P = .002, P < .001), and feeling less safe at work (P < .001). Men were more likely married (P = .042) with 1 (P = .004) or more children (P = .034). Women reported significantly greater responsibility for child and domestic care (P < .001). There were no gender differences in work-life balance, feeling supported at work, or having enough time to do things outside of work. CONCLUSION: Despite little difference in workload and professional responsibilities, women held more domestic responsibilities and experienced and witnessed more racial and sexual discrimination in the workplace. Surprisingly, there were no reported differences in work-life balance or feeling supported at work between genders. These findings suggest that factors unique to female neurosurgeons may contribute to continued gender disparity in the field.
Background There is a growing number of online nursing graduate degree programs to address the professional development needs of working nurses. Work-related antecedents of online student engagement in graduate nursing studies are under-explored in the literature. Aim The aim of the study is to examine the relationship among demographic and work characteristics, work-life balance (WLB), and online student engagement (OSE) among registered nurses enrolled in online graduate studies. Methods This study design is convergent-parallel mixed methods, utilizing a survey approach to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The target population is students of an online Master of Arts in Nursing program at a university in Cabanatuan City, Philippines. Respondents were recruited via email. Google Forms were used for data collection. Non-parametric, inferential statistical tests were used to examine relationships among variables. Inductive qualitative content analysis was used to draw insights from open-ended responses. Results A total of 173 graduate students responded to the survey. Quantitative results indicate high levels of WLB (Mdn = 4.8, IQR = 1.5) and OSE (Mdn = 3.7–4.0, IQR = 0.5–1.0). WLB was significantly lower among females (U = 3297.5, p < 0.01). Emotion OSE was significantly higher for respondents with managerial positions (U = 2987.5, p < 0.05). WLB had significant low to moderate positive correlations with the domains of OSE (r = 0.22 to 0.32, p < 0.01). Qualitative findings reveal various appraisals of online learning and factors influencing work-life-study balance, such as work, personal life, and school. Conclusion Work-life balance facilitates better online student engagement among graduate nursing students and is influenced by time management, work (i.e. job environment and stressors), personal (i.e. home life and leisure activities), and university factors (i.e. curriculum, modality, and professors). Impact statement Empirical evidence on the link between WLB and OSE can inform graduate nursing academics in developing initiatives to ensure the timely completion of the degree program.
A university-wide survey of caregiving students in the US: Individual differences and associations with emotional and academic adjustment | Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
## Abstract
The United States (US) does not formally count, recognize, or support students in higher education who are caregivers, unlike England and Australia. This mixed-methods study presents results from a new survey of caregiving undergraduate and graduate students at a large university in the US. Students (N = 7592; 62.7% White, 69.9% women) reported their caregiving responsibilities, depression, and anxiety, which were linked to administrative records of financial aid, part-time status, and academic grades (GPA). A small but noteworthy portion of students identified as caregivers (5.6%, N = 427), either for someone who was chronically ill or elderly (3.2%; N = 239) or for a minor under age 18 (2.9%; N = 227). Caregiving students were disproportionately women, graduate students, enrolled part-time, and receiving financial aid. Further, caregivers for the chronically ill or elderly (but not for a minor) faced heightened emotional and academic risk. Specifically, caregiving for 3–5 days per we
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