This study is not about snow flakes. That whole notion – spoiled young people who can’t take a beating – is a failure to appreciate the pressure many students are under, says researcher Jolien Dopmeijer of the Trimbos Institute. She has been concerned with the mental well-being of students for some time, which was already declining before the corona pandemic. At the end of 2021, research among 28,000 students showed that half of them experienced psychological complaints such as anxiety and gloom.
As a follow-up, Dopmeijer and colleagues conducted five months of research through interviews, analyzes and a literature study into the pressure to perform that 70 percent of the students say they feel. The title of the study, which will be published on Wednesday: Harder, better, faster, stronger?
You interviewed 32 students and 29 education experts. What’s the rush?
“Students are overburdened. Their week is completely full. With studying, lectures and then a part-time job to make ends meet. The cost of living is high. In addition, they want to use every moment of their free time. To develop again. See friends, do board work, play sports. There’s no time to fool around. Everything must utility to have.”
Why?
“They constantly get the message that they have to be strong. That they have to achieve something, to excel. Even if they live at home and their parents do the laundry and the shopping. Because the problem is bigger than practical, time-consuming issues. They are constantly agitated. Society just keeps on going. Everyone is busy all the time, right?”
The standards for binding study advice will be relaxed in two years’ time and the basic grant will return in September.
“Yes that is good. It is really a misconception that young people are all spoiled and have never learned to deal with adversity. Society has completely changed. Our generation would also have a hard time if they grew up now. We were under less pressure. Just the study schedules and the content of the study program that are all communicated via computer, in different portals. If you miss a schedule change or extra assignment, as a student, it causes stress, because you can’t change anything about it. The system is unrelenting. Sorry, your program is different than you planned.”
Anonymization?
“Yes, because of this they often feel that they cannot change their time schedule and planning. And if you are already busy, that causes stress. This also happens at an age when you have to connect a lot with other people. You have to interact with other people – that’s how you develop.”
What can be done about it?
“More guidance for students and more breathing space for them. In order to learn, you also have to be able to take a break from time to time. To reflect. Think back and think ahead. Take a breather for a moment. Not having to run and produce continuously. At the same time, they can learn that stress and performance are not bad things at all. They are even good for you, occasionally. Provided dosed. We made a guide full of suggestions.”
The world is at their feet, isn’t it?
“Well, the enormous freedom of choice that is available nowadays also causes stress. It’s actually easier to live if you follow a path shaped by frames. Through your family – a particular trade or field in which the family is active – or through the church or another faith. Freedom of choice and personal autonomy have been considered sacred for decades. But it also complicates life. Students have the feeling that they have to make the right choice from all those choices and that they are themselves responsible if they choose ‘wrong’. That is not true. They may well be mistaken or deviate from the path. They should also be told that.”
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper on June 14, 2023.