Sources of Distress and Stress Among Undergraduate Computer Science Students
An increasing number of undergraduate students are demonstrating issues with their mental health, particularly anxiety and depression. The American College Health Association found a significant increase in psychological problems on college campuses in recent years, including 28.4% of students reporting being so depressed that it was difficult to function. Other researchers have shown that computer science undergraduate students in particular demonstrate higher levels of anxiety and depression than students pursuing other subjects. This paper seeks to get an understanding of the causes of computer science student stress and distress, and to identify ways computer science instructors can address those causes. To investigate these topics, we conducted a study on a large, private R1 university in which we analyzed survey responses from 213 students in an undergraduate software engineering course and interviewed 15 computer science students and eight computer science instructors. Our investigation revealed that undergraduate students experience distress based on the frequency of problem sets, a competitive job market, and competition against classmates in the classroom, among other factors. Students in our study ex- pressed a desire to collaborate more in the classroom as a way of reducing stress, and the faculty interviewees found many benefits of increasing collaboration but have a few concerns that must be addressed first.
Comments
Your project offers really…
Your project offers really interesting insight! I'm curious, do you think there is anything Penn-specific (or Ivy league) specific to your findings? Also, I found it interesting that a competitive job market was a stress factor. Was this reported from students' perspectives on the job market, and/or is there data showing that comp sci-related jobs are more competitive/harder to get? (I ask this, in part, because this seems to be a wildly growing sector. Also, I wonder if Penn's environment is affecting students' overall outlook on getting those jobs or on getting different jobs that are less competitive)
Very thought-provoking! I…
Very thought-provoking! I was surprised to learn that the students surveyed didn't get to engage in collaborative group projects as often as they'd like. It seems like doing so would also be important preparation for the tech workforce.
Confirmation!
Having worked elsewhere, this stress you documented among CS students is very real - and driven by some pretty tough collaboration policies. But we know that collaboration helps folks learn and apparently manage stress, too. Thank you!
This is a great area to…
This is a great area to examine! I would have never thought that a specific major would be more susceptible to mental illness than another! I think the charts go great with the flow of the poster as a great way to share data found! A question to think about thought: How do you think that the conversion to virtual schooling has affecting the mental health of these students, for the better or for the worse? Personally, I believe that it has affected me negatively, so I wonder to what extend the compsci majors are feeling it.
Stress vs. Distress
How did you define distress in your survey? It seems to me that a useful distinction should be made between stress and distress, especially for students. We are all subject to certain types of stressors and to a certain extent will be for most of our lives. In that regard, some stress may not be a bad thing. However, distress reads to me as more of a potential problem in terms of mental health.
Important Results
I thought your project came away with some important results regarding the mental health of computer science students specifically, but also college students in general. I wonder what similar surveys of mental health in other majors would reveal, especially in majors that allow more collaborations as this seemed to play a large role in the stress of the computer science students.
Raises important questions
This was such an interesting project! Would you propose similar projects to be done across the University that address other majors/fields of study as well? Do you think your results, and similar results from other mental health surveys, should have an impact/say in shaping the courses themselves?