Source: University of Auckland (UoA)
One of the country’s biggest investigations into student wellbeing is being carried out by psychology students and their teachers at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.
In-depth interviews with more than 100 undergraduate students from minority and marginalised groups such as Māori, Pasifika, Chinese, South Asian, and LGBTQIA+ will inform student support on the nation’s biggest campus, which has 47,000 students. Most of the research is being carried out by nine postgraduate students.
Professor Kerry Gibson, who’s Pākeha, and Dr Sarah Kapeli, of Tongan descent, lead the project, which is backed by University leadership including the Vice-Chancellor and the Māori and Pacific Pro-Vice Chancellors. Recommendations on how to better support students are likely to come later this year and facilitating connection will be key.
“When students come to university it is for more than just a degree. It’s a time when young people are working out who they want to be and how they fit in the world,” said Gibson. “This is more important than ever after Covid had such a disruptive effect on young people’s learning and socialising.”
Rates of mental health problems are increasing among university students, according to international studies.
“Changing the environment so that it supports students better will help their academic success and also help prevent the development of mental health problems in this age group and into adulthood,” Gibson said.
Stresses reported by students in the Auckland study include:
academic pressure
academic competition
financial insecurity
balancing paid work and university work
balancing home and family commitments with university
feeling disconnected and isolated in a large institution
wider worries such as a competitive job market and climate change
“Finding a sense of belonging is central to young people’s success at university and later in life,” said Kapeli. “Feeling comfortable at university is important for all students but can be particularly challenging for marginalised groups of students.”
Challenges for Sāmoan and Tongan students include juggling family-comes-first commitments with university life and working out where self-care fits within collectivist values, say masters students Seulele Vine and Malia Vaka’uta. Pasifika students value Pasifika spaces on campus and highlight the role of religiosity or spirituality in wellbeing.
In the study, interviews, talanoa and kōrero have mostly been conducted by researchers from the same minority or marginalised groups as the interviewees.
Jemma Dixon, Shelby Symons, and Jack Dobson are researching Māori students’ experiences; Skyler Hsieh, Rainbow students; Senuri Panditharatne, South Asian students; and Kahn Tasker, Chinese students. Emma Johnston is studying the impact of existential threats such as climate change.
The first theses based on the research, which began in 2022, were submitted last month.
“For some students, it’s been cathartic,” says Kapeli. “They’ve never been asked questions like this before. We know that some are struggling – they don’t know where to get help or don’t think they can ask for help.”
Also contributing to the project are Kaiwhakaako Mātai Hinengaro Hineatua Parkinson and Dr Roshini Peiris-John, co-director of the University’s Centre for Asian and Ethnic Minority Health Research and Evaluation. The Spencer Foundation, a US organisation funding education research, contributed US$50,000 toward Māori and Pasifika aspects of the study.