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Cited by 302Doctoral Education Challenges and SolutionsStudent Stress and CopingStress and Burnout Research

Balancing between inspiration and exhaustion: PhD students' experienced socio-psychological well-being

Stubb, J., Pyhältö, K., Lonka, K.·2011·Studies in Continuing Education
DOI 10.1080/0158037x.2010.515572
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Abstract

This paper explores doctoral students' experiences of their scholarly communities in terms of socio-psychological well-being. Further, the study examines how experiences were related to study engagement and to self-reported stress, exhaustion, and anxiety. Altogether 669 doctoral students from the University of Helsinki, Finland, responded a survey. The answers to an open-ended question were content analysed and then statistically compared to well-being and study engagement items. The results showed that there was variation in students' experiences of the scholarly community regarding socio-psychological well-being. More than half of the answers, where students had explicitly described their experience (n = 383), emphasised the scholarly community as source of burden (56%), but experiences of inspiration and empowerment were also frequently reported in the answers (44%). Feelings of empowerment were positively related to study engagement and negatively related to stress, exhaustion, and anxiety.

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Crossref · 10.1080/0158037x.2010.515572

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  • In a Finnish study of 383 PhD students, 44% reported the academic community as a source of empowerment, enthusiasm and inspiration, while 56% experienced it as a source of burden.

    “In a Finnish study of 383 PhD students, Stubb et al. (2011) found that 44% reported the academic community as a source of empowerment, enthusiasm and inspiration, while 56% experienced it as a source of burden.”

    From Work organization and mental health problems in PhD students (2017) · cites this paper as Stubb et al. (2011)

  • The few studies on PhD students suggest that stress may stem from various problems in the PhD process, such as problems concerning one's own learning, different aspects of insecurity, frequent evaluation, competitive atmosphere, supervision, relationships to faculty and peers, workload and work-life interface.

    “The few studies on PhD students suggest that stress may stem from various problems in the PhD process, such as problems concerning one's own learning, different aspects of insecurity (financial insecurity, insecurity concerning unwritten rules), frequent evaluation, competitive atmosphere, supervision, relationships to faculty and peers, workload and work-life interface (Appel and Dahlgren, 2003;K”

    From Work organization and mental health problems in PhD students (2017) · cites this paper as Stubb et al., 2011

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Authors
Stubb, J., Pyhältö, K., & Lonka, K.
Affiliations
University of Helsinki (FI)
Corresponding author
Stubb, J.
ORCID
Venue
Studies in Continuing Education
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2011-02-08
Volume
33
Issue
1
Pages
33-50
ISSN
  • 0158-037X (ISSN-L)
  • 1470-126X
DOI
10.1080/0158037x.2010.515572
OpenAlex
W2083333183
Cited by
302
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 27 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 9
FWCI
11.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Studies in Continuing Education (publishedVersion)
Funders
Helsingin Yliopisto
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Doctoral Education Challenges and Solutions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Student Stress and Coping
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
Keywords
doctoral students, psychosocial well-being, academic community, study engagement, stress, exhaustion, anxiety, empowerment, inspiration, doctoral education

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