From the Periphery to the Center: Young People's Agonistic Pathways Towards Higher Education

The present research analyzes the mobilities of young people from the periphery of Rio de Janeiro towards a renowned university situated in a central region of the city. Focusing on a case study with four students, we carried out an in-depth investigation of the dynamics of their professional trajectories. Their personal identifications and values, their future career expectations and the pressures and the demands of attending such a university were investigated. Three focus groups meetings were organized with these students. The results show that the displacement from home to the university, social and racial segregation, and arduous academic demands are factors that pose enormous difficulties to these students and require intense psychological work on their part to persist in their educational investment. Intense conflicts with regards to living up to their ideals characterize an agonistic pathway in their educational endeavor. On the other hand, the prestige of the university, family influence and the belief in upward social mobility were found to support these young people’s decision not to give up. This contradictory dynamic, riddled with uncertainties, mobilizes these young people to find a way to permanently renovate their personal stakes in higher education.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ BURNOUT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

International student mobility has been expanding in the past twenty years. Creating economic value and strategic colloborations, developing a common understanding in a socio-cultural context, and generating scientific knowledge at a universal level through projects and research in higher education are the main reasons that play a role in the increase of internationalization efforts. International students who prefer to study outside of their country face many academic, socio-cultural, psychological and economic problems. The purpose of this study is to determine the burnout levels of international students. A descriptive approach incorporating quantitative (MBI-SS) and qualitative methods (semi structured interviews) were adopted in the present study to collect data. A total of 1284 international students were selected fort the quantative and 20 studets for the qualitative part of the study. The results of the study revealed the fact that international students has high burnout levels due to academic demands, cultural differences, financial problems, language and homesickness.

Relationship Between Adversity Quotient And Academic Stress In Muhammadiyah 9 Boarding School Smp Students

Academic stress is an individual response that arises because of their inability to complete or complete academic demands. This study aims to determine the relationship between adversity quotient and academic stress in students of SMP Muhammadiyah 9 Boarding School Tanggulangin. This research is a correlational quantitative study. The population in this study were all students of SMP Muhammadiyah 9 Boarding School Tanggulangin, with a sample of 114 subjects. Data collection techniques in this study used the adversity quotient scale (ɑ = 0.949) and the academic stress scale (ɑ = 0.945). The data analysis technique used Pearson's product-moment correlation with the help of SPSS 18.0. The results of the research data analysis showed that the correlation coefficient (rxy) was -0.247 with a significance of 0.004 <0.05, meaning that there was a significant negative relationship between adversity quotient and academic stress in students of SMP Muhammadiyah 9 Boarding School Tanggulangin. In this study, the influence of the adversity quotient variable with academic stress was 6.1%.

Optometric Screening of Elementary Students in Greece

Background: The aim of this study is to provide a wide screening test in elementary school students in Greece in order to trace undiagnosed visual deficiencies, which can affect the visual performance and efficiency. Methods: Examination procedures were approved by the Ministry of Education for the optometric team to enter the school premises and perform the assessments. The researchers performed optometric testing according to standard protocols to evaluate visual acuity (VA), near point of convergence (NPC), accommodative amplitude and facility, vergence facility, stereopsis, and pursuit and saccade oculomotor function. Results: The 835 students that were examined came from a total number of 14 schools so as to enable social stratification of high, medium, and low living standards. Fewer than 17% of the children managed to pass all visual tests at published goal levels. Testing identified a significant number of students who had undiagnosed visual deficiencies (83%). Conclusion: Visual Function in elementary students needs to be evaluated on a regular basis following a comprehensive Optometric screening so that a wide range of visual dysfunctions can be detected. Our ultimate goal is to ensure adequate conditions for every student to develop vision skills needed to meet academic demands.

Trainee perspective of the causes of stress and burnout in surgical training: a qualitative study from Wales

ObjectivesStress and burn-out among surgical trainees has been reported most prevalent in core surgical trainees (CST) and female trainees in particular. This study aimed to identify factors perceived by CSTs to be associated with stress and burnout in those at risk.DesignAn open-ended questionnaire was distributed to 79 CSTs and two researchers categorised responses independently, according to Michie’s model of workplace stress.SettingA UK regional postgraduate medical region (Wales).ParticipantsSixty-three responses were received; 42 males, 21 females. The response rate was 79.7%.ResultsInter-rater reliability was good (k=0.792 (79.2%), p<0.001). The most common theme of Michie’s model related to CST stress and burnout was career development, with most statements associated with curriculum, examination and academic demands required to attain a CST certificate of completion of training, and higher surgical national training number appointment. This was closely followed by those intrinsic to the job with recurrent discussion around the difficulties balancing work perceived to be service provision (ward work and on-calls), outpatient clinic and operative experience. Conversely, the most common themes relevant to stress and burnout among female trainees were associated with relationships at work (primarily the male-dominated nature of surgery), extraorganisational factors (family–work life balance) and individual characteristics (personality and physiological differences).ConclusionCSTs’ perceptions regarding the causes of National Health Service related stress and burnout are numerous, and these findings provide a basis for the development of targeted stressor counter-measures to improve training and well-being.

Consumo De Drogas Y Estrés En Estudiantes De Medicina De La Ciudad De Querétaro, México

Introducción. La adicción a drogas lícitas e ilícitas constituye un problema de salud pública que se presenta tanto a nivel nacional como internacional. Las escuelas de medicina no están ajenas a este fenómeno, dado que los alumnos están sometidos a altas demandas académicas que se asocian, en algunos casos, a estrés, ansiedad y trastornos del ánimo. Objetivo. Identificar la prevalencia y tipo de drogas consumidas en estudiantes universitarios de la Licenciatura en Medicina, así como las características del estrés académico presente. Metodología. Estudio con enfoque cuantitativo, con un diseño descriptivo y trasversal, realizado con estudiantes de quinto hasta décimo semestre. Se aplicó la “Encuesta Nacional sobre Prevención y Uso de Drogas” conformada por 7 secciones, de 65 preguntas y el inventario SISCO de estrés académico. Los datos fueron procesados mediante estadística descriptiva. El proyecto se evaluó y registró ante un comité de investigación. Se cuidaron los aspectos éticos. Resultados. Se aplicaron 177 cuestionarios, 58.8% fueron mujeres. En cuanto al consumo de sustancias, 75.1% ha fumado y 99.4% ha consumido alcohol. El 66.1% ha consumido marihuana y 13.6% cocaína. Del Inventario SISCO, 97.2% presentó momentos de preocupación o nerviosismo durante el semestre, teniendo distintos tipos de reacciones como: fatiga, somnolencia o necesidad de dormir 34%, depresión y tristeza (39% algunas veces y 19.2% casi siempre). Conclusiones. La información obtenida plantea la posibilidad de la creación de un programa para reducir el estrés y sus manifestaciones con el fin de disminuir el consumo de drogas y preservar la salud física y mental de los alumnos. Introduction. Addiction to legal and illegal drugs represent a public health problem that take place nationally and internationally. Medical schools are not immune to this phenomenon, since students are expose to high academic demands that are associated, in some cases, with stress, anxiety and mood disorders. Objective. Identify the prevalence and type of drugs consumed by medical students, as well as the characteristics of the academic stress. Methodology. Quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study. Carried out with students from fifth to tenth semester. The “National Survey on Prevention and Use of Drugs” was applied, made up of seven sections, with 65 questions and the SISCO inventory of academic stress. The information was processed using descriptive statistics. Results. 177 questionnaires were applied, 58.8% were women. Regarding substance use, 75.1% have smoked and 99.4% have consumed alcohol. 66.1% have consumed marijuana and 13.6% cocaine. From the SISCO Inventory, 97.2% presented moments of panic or nervousness during the semester, having different types of reactions such as: fatigue, drowsiness or need to sleep 34%, depression and sadness (39% sometimes and 19.2% almost always). Conclusions. The information obtained allows us to suggest the creation of a program to reduce stress and its manifestations in order to lessen drug use and preserve the physical and mental health of students.

Zero Hour in Arno Schmidt's Triptych Leviathan; or, An Adventure Allegorist at the Crossroads

Arno Schmidt’s tripartite Leviathan (1949; written 1946—1948) is one of the few German narratives composed immediately after World War II. Different from the then newly-propagated Trümmerliteratur (literature among the ruins) or the literature of Vergangenheitsbewältigung (coping with the past), Schmidt’s writing condensed and “dehydrated” narrative events, weaving antiquity and his personal experience into one in order to lay bare historical lines of continuity. Relating to Pytheas of Marsilia, to an ethics based on praxis and to modern physics, he undertakes a demanding topography of “hell descents” within which he also put into doubt political and academic demands upon a cultural legacy that was, to him, anything but timeless. The essay explores Schmidt’s didactic, innovative use of allegory and other rhetorical devices as tools for understanding long-term consequences of failures of interpretation and forceful restrictions on the play of imagination.

Who Is Okay? The Harm of One-Dimensional Appraisals of Women Scholars During COVID-19 & Beyond

In this essay, I detail how homogenizing appraisals of diverse faculty women during COVID-19 are harmful to all, including myself. I highlight how academic demands to be “talking heads” and not full human beings, though not new, is especially harmful in the current era. As a Black woman faculty dealing with the double pandemic of COVID-19 and anti-Black racism, the one-dimensional appraisals of women faculty exclude me: I am not a mother dealing with sexist overburden in household responsibilities that interfere with my work. Instead, I am dealing with isolation and loneliness, which I sublimate through work productivity. Resulting in shame, I also realize that universities could operate differently, recognizing women scholars for their diversity in identities, backgrounds, responsibilities, work styles, and personalities during the pandemic and beyond. Given that work productivity is not synonymous with well-being, I hope my colleagues know that, in this moment, I am not okay.

Level of Academic Stress for Students of Guidance and Counseling at Semarang State University during the Pandemic

Academic stress is a subjective perception of an academic condition or a response experienced by students in the form of negative physical reactions, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that arise due to school or academic demands. During a pandemic Covid 19 most of earning activities becomes online. The aim of this research is to determine the level of academic stress among students in Guidance and Counseling Department, Semarang State University during the pandemic. The method used is descriptive qualitative research. This research conducted interviews to collect data by using purposive sampling. The results show that students experience symptoms of academic stress symptoms that affect their physical, emotional, behavioral, and thoughts as well as several factors that influence academic stress both in themselves (internally) and in the environment and circumstances (externally). The conclusion of this study is the respondents' stress level is quite high or increases when they get assignments from the lecturers. Keywords: college students, academic stress, pandemic

Online self-help programs to reduce psychological distress in Mexican college students

University students are a key group in society, in terms of human capital and social development. They constitute a risk group in the development of anxiety due to their psychological, social, and academic demands, therefore it is necessary to propose intervention alternatives in this population.