Concordance (or Discordance) Between Students and Staff/Faculty Perceptions of Student Stress in Science - Article 2

Oct 15, 2026

The study explores how science students experience and manage stress and assesses whether students’ appraisals align with faculty and staff perceptions. A survey collected data from 308 students and 40 staff/faculty members. Student stress levels were high without demographic differences. Students’ main stressors included workload, grades, career, time management, and anxiety. Faculty/staff estimated undergraduate stress accurately, but underestimated graduate stress; they also overestimated stress from other sources. Students reported coping through social support, self-care, hobbies, and problem-solving.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Student Stress

Context from the 2019 NCHA survey

Study purpose and threefold aims

The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning | Volume 12 | Issue 1 | Article 2 | | --- | --- | | Fall 09-20-2021
Concordance (or Discordance) Between Students and Staff/Faculty Perceptions of Student Stress in Science
A. Dana Ménard
University of Windsor, [dana.menard@uwindsor.ca](dana.menard@uwindsor.ca)[ ](dana.menard@uwindsor.ca)Kendall Soucie
University of Windsor, [ksoucie@uwindsor.ca](ksoucie@uwindsor.ca)[ ](ksoucie@uwindsor.ca)Sira Jaffri
University of Windsor, [jaffris@uwindsor.ca](jaffris@uwindsor.ca)[ ](jaffris@uwindsor.ca)Chris Houser
University of Windsor, [chris.houser@uwindsor.ca](chris.houser@uwindsor.ca)[ ](chris.houser@uwindsor.ca)[Dora Cavallo-Medved](Dora Cavallo-Medved)
University of Windsor, dcavallo@uwindsor.ca
Follow this and additional works at: [https://www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca](https://www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca)
[https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2021.1.10810](https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2021.1.10810) | | Recommended Citation Ménard, A.D., Soucie, K., Jaffri, S., Houser, C., & Cavallo-Medved, D. (2021) . Concordance (or discordance) between students and staff/faculty perceptions of student stress in Science. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 12(1). [https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2021.1.10810](https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2021.1.10810) Concordance (or Discordance) Between Students and Staff/Faculty Perceptions of Student Stress in Science Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore the experience and management of stress in science students and to evaluate concordance with faculty/staff members’ appraisal of student stress. A survey was completed by 308 students and by 40 staff and faculty members. Students’ stress levels were high but there were no differences based on demographic groups. Students’ top stressors included workload, grades, career, time management, and anxiety. Faculty and staff members accurately estimated the level of undergraduate student stress but underestimated graduate student stress. They also demonstrated a good understanding of the role of specific academic stressors, but consistently overestimated the contribution of stress from other sources. Students described using a variety of different coping strategies, including social support, self-care, hobbies, and problem-solving. L’objectif de cette étude était d’explorer l’expérience et la gestion du stress parmi les étudiants et les étudiantes en sciences et d’évaluer leur concordance avec l’évaluation du stress des étudiants et des étudiantes par les professeurs, les professeures et les membres du personnel. Un sondage a été mené auprès de 308 étudiants et étudiantes ainsi que 40 professeurs, professeures et membres du personnel. Les niveaux de stress ressenti par les étudiants et les étudiantes étaient élevés mais il n’yavait aucune différence basée sur les groupes démographiques. Les principaux facteurs de stress ressenti par les étudiants et les étudiantes étaient la charge de travail, les notes, les carrières, la gestion du temps et l’anxiété . Les professeurs, les professeures et les membres du personnel avaient estimé avec exactitude le niveau de stress ressenti par les étudiants et les étudiantes de premier cycle maisavaient sous-estimé le niveau de stress ressenti par les étudiants et les étudiantes des cycles supérieurs. Ils avaient également montré une bonne compréhension du rôle des divers facteurs de stress spécifiques à l’université, mais avaient systématiquement surestimé la contribution du stress causé par d’autres sources. Les étudiants et les étudiantes ont expliqué qu’ils faisaient appel à toute une variété de stratégies différentes pour gérer le stress, y compris le soutien social, les soins personnels, les passe-temps et la résolution de problèmes. Keywords student stress, leaky pipeline, coping strategies, faculty and staff; stress des étudiants et des étudiantes, canalisation qui fuit

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To explore science students’ experience and management of stress and to evaluate how closely students’ stress ratings match faculty/staff perceptions. The study also identifies coping strategies used by science students.

How was the study conducted?

A survey was completed by 308 science students and 40 staff and faculty members. Students and faculty/staff appraisal of student stress were compared.

What differences did faculty and staff show in estimating stress levels?

Faculty and staff estimated undergraduate student stress accurately but underestimated graduate student stress. They also understood specific academic stressors well while consistently overestimating contributions from other sources.

Oct 15, 2026

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