45 % of Copenhagen's students are stressed - every day

Racing pulse, stomach ache, depression, lack of concentration and trouble sleeping – the symptoms for stress and for students at the University of Copenhagen, who in their day-to-day lives feel stressed about their studies:

45 percent of the 11,104 students polled by the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) felt stressed, most days. 64 percent felt stressed leading up to exams.

Read our recent University Post stress theme articles: Look out for your own stress symptoms, Sintha has found ways to relieve her stress.

Day-to-day stress: SCIENCE is best, HUM is worst

The numbers vary at the different faculties: The Faculty of Humanities has the greatest number of stressed students. 48.6 percent of their students are stressed on their normal days. The Faculty of Science is at the bottom with 38 per cent.

It’s a different story when it comes to exam-related stress:

The Faculty of Law has a whopping 72.8 per cent of their students feeling exam-stress. And at the Faculty of Theology, the least stressed in the day-to-day, 52.4 percent are stressed during exams.

Prorector: ‘Stress must be taken seriously’

The survey includes questions on how students get on with their studies, their general study environment, and the student support from the administration.

The answers indicate that students who feel stressed are uncertain about what is expected of them academically. Furthermore, the students who have a study group are among the least stressed.

“It’s not supposed to be easy to be a student. But stress must be taken seriously, so we must work on creating clear situations and clear expectations for students, so they aren’t unnecessarily stressed. We also need to improve tools to plan studies, and to make course merits more transparent. UCPH’s new guidance strategy can be a part of the solution,” says Prorector for Education Lykke Friis in a press release from the University of Copenhagen.

See the full report on KUnet.dk (needs log in).

bjarke.w.pedersen@adm.ku.dk
universitypost@adm.ku.dk

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