Graduate students are six times as likely to experience anxiety and depression as people in other fields, a study in Nature Biotechnology found last year. About 39 percent of graduate students surveyed were found to be moderately to severely depressed compared to only 6 percent of the general population.
Statistics like this inspired the Council of Graduate Schools and the Jed Foundation, an organization for youth mental health, to partner on a new initiative called “Supporting Mental Health and Wellness of Graduate Students.”
The two organizations will embark on a 22-month research project, surveying 500 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada about their services for graduate students and exploring strategies for improving graduate student mental health. They’ll also run focus groups with students, faculty and administrators from programs across disciplines, with an emphasis on the needs of students of color.
All of this will take place under the guidance of a recently selected advisory committee made up of 12 higher education thought leaders. The project will culminate in a data-driven report with policy suggestions for graduate school programs. The organizations also will hold a one-and-a-half-day workshop for deans, graduate students and mental health researchers in Washington, D.C.
The project is funded by grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
“Our overarching goal is to create a road map for our graduate deans and community to create services and a more supportive environment for all graduate students,” said Dr. Suzanne Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, “Because so very little is known about services that are already in place and policies that promote wellness.”
Ortega emphasized that this is likely the first study on graduate students with a “public health approach” and “a preventative approach.”
