Graduate Students and Stress Study


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Statement of the Problem and Purpose: While there are a tremendous number of studies that examine the experiences of undergraduate students on college and university campuses, research on graduate students is severely lacking (Hodgson & Simoni, 1995). Despite the lack of research, there is growing concern about the issues and experiences of this population. There is evidence that the duration of study or time to degree has steadily crept upward and the degree completion rates have dropped over the same period (Bowen & Rudenstein, 1992). This disturbing trend among graduate students could be caused by a number of factors including stress which is commonly regarded as a part of the graduate school experience. The amount and type of graduate student stress may be associated with attrition rates and completion of degree. Stress in graduate school has been related to poor academic performance and coping problems (Mallinckrodt, Leong, & Fretz, 1983). Academic self-concept is a multifaceted attribute that is continuously modified on the basis of academic performance. Students' academic self-concept will be influenced by their experiences in school and their interpretation of those experiences (Shavelson & Bolus, 1982). Understanding these experiences and concerns plays an important role in conceptualization of and program design for graduate students.

The purpose of this study is to examine the levels and sources of stress and academic self-concept of graduate students and to identify any possible group differences ( e.g., between gender, race, etc. ).

Sample: The sample presently includes graduate students currently enrolled at a large graduate and professional school in the Northeast. Efforts will be made to have a representative sample (i.e., degree level [e.g., masters and doctoral] and department ) as well as a racially diverse sample of African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, White Americans, and international students. The sample target number is n = 800.

Instruments: Academic Self-Concept Scale(ASCS), and Graduate Student Stress Survey(GSSS) will be used. The ASCS was developed by Reynolds (1980) to assess how positively one feels about one's academic ability. The ASCS consists of 40 statements with a 4-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree. Scores can range from 40 to 160; the higher the score, the stronger the level of academic self-concept. The GSSS was developed by Saunders (1993) to assess cognitive stress of graduate students. The instruments has 31 items with a 5-points Likert scale ranging from Agree to Disagree. A Personal Data Form has also been designed by the researchers for use in this study.

Methodology: The subjects for this study will be randomly selected from course rosters for the Fall 1997 term. Each subject will be asked to complete each of the three instruments. All data collected and analyzed will be in the aggregate form.