UND Today

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Stress, stress everywhere

UND sociologist Daphne Pedersen takes on burnout in higher education at next Faculty Lecture

Daphne Pedersen
Daphne Pedersen, professor of sociology at UND, will present her years of research on stress and higher education Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the Memorial Union Lecture Bowl at 4:30p.m. “Stress and Burnout in Higher Education” is the latest installment of the Faculty Lecture Series. Photo by Dima Williams/UND Today.

The enticing door to personal freedom — college shapes the best years in a young adult’s life, right?

Aside from attending lectures and penning assignments, adult obligations are still a distant concept. Impromptu parties happen regularly, while extracurricular engagements offer an excuse out of a tedious class.

This is how the cliché goes. Yet, it’s quite amiss, says Daphne Pedersen, professor of sociology at the University of North Dakota.

Today’s students seldom occupy a blithe bubble.

“[I]f you look at the tracking of student stress over time, it is actually at the highest point ever recorded,” said Pedersen. “It has been constantly increasing and now, just as you think it cannot get any higher, it keeps edging up.”

Academic stress and well-being frame Pedersen’s upcoming talk – “Stress and Burnout in Higher Education” – at the next installment of the UND Faculty Lecture Series. There, she’ll present her years-long research on the topic beginning at 4:30 p.m., on Wednesday (Oct. 17) at the Memorial Union Lecture Bowl.

The public reception is slated to precede the lecture at 4 p.m.

The recipient of the 2018 Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research or Creative Activity, and Service, Pedersen began exploring stress on campus while working with colleagues to pursue the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) ADVANCE grant initiative to increase the hiring and retention of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields.

Pedersen’s research on faculty stress follows her studies on dual-earner couples and working parents.

Break from traditional

So, why does stress weigh on students heavier today than in the past?

“[M]ost of that stress has to do with academic concerns and balancing those concerns with other aspects of their lives,” says Pedersen.

The issue is not that students have a lot to do in the classroom, but that they have a lot to focus on outside of it too. That is because many of today’s learners break from the traditional profile, says Pedersen.

Students often pursue more education later in their lives, when they already juggle full-time jobs and families.

Because of the shifting makeup of the student body nationwide, Pedersen cautions faculty against hastily proffering counsel on how to lessen stress.

“We think about what is ideal, but we do not always think about what is practical,” she said. “I often hear faculty advising students to cut back on their work hours but that is not always possible. That is how they are paying for school, paying for rent, paying to eat, paying for textbooks, paying to support other people.”

Too much to handle

But faculty feel stress too – in amounts non-scholars find hard to perceive.

Some career rankings rate professorship among the least stressful occupations because of the ostensible perks it carries – flexible hours, free summers and high autonomy. Pedersen disagrees.

“[T]he levels of stress and burnout among faculty are similar to those reported by people in the service industry and people who are healthcare workers,” Pedersen says.

Common sources of faculty stress are the numerous clashing demands that stretch the hours thin – from teaching students to conducting research to partaking in various committees to providing service to the community to tending to their lives outside the office.

“There is often a lot of pressure just to get a lot of things done,” says Pedersen. “Contrary to what a lot of people think about academia, there are a lot of deadlines that people are trying to meet.”

Pedersen has found that women report sharper conflicts between work and life than men. The remedies, however, are the same for both male and female faculty.

The most potent one is to have supportive, nurturing relations with colleagues, Pedersen said. Having realistic expectations about one’s ability to expediently fulfill a slew of duties also helps.

University System Chancellor Mark Hagerott presents the UND Foundation/B.C. Gamble Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research or Creative Activity, and Service to Daphne Pedersen (Sociology) at the 2018 Founders Day celebration on Feb. 22. Photo by Jackie Lorentz/UND Today.
University System Chancellor Mark Hagerott presents the UND Foundation/B.C. Gamble Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research or Creative Activity, and Service to
Daphne Pedersen (Sociology) at the 2018 Founders Day celebration on Feb. 22. Photo by Jackie Lorentz/UND Today.

Excellent researcher

Having joined UND in 2004, Pedersen boasts many accolades that attest to her expertise as a teacher and researcher. Aside from receiving the Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research or Creative Activity, and Service in 2018, she holds the 2007 UND Foundation/Bertin C. Gamble Award for Individual Excellence in Teaching.

Focused on how disparate circumstances contribute to stress and well-being, Pedersen has published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Her current research examines the behaviors that stress prompts in students as well as the development of student-faculty relationships.

Pedersen says she is thrilled to share her work through the Faculty Lecture Series and draw practical implications for attendees.

She quips, “It is exciting but causes a little bit of stress.”