Financial and caregivers’ stressors in Australian law students – a qualitative analysis

Abstract

Australian law students exhibit high levels of psychological distress compared to the general population. In 2013, The University of Sydney Law School conducted a survey to examine the level of distress in students, what factors were associated with their distress and what strategies might mitigate student distress. This article reports on the survey's qualitative findings relating to financial stressors and care-giving responsibilities. The findings provide further insights into the context of financial stressors for law students and how they may undermine students' candidacy. The study found that financial stress, work commitments, caring for dependents, illnesses and death in the family can be potential reasons for students suspending studies or withdrawing from their studies altogether. In view of the findings, possible solutions to alleviate stress and support students with their work-study and care-giving concerns are discussed.

It Takes Work: How University Students Manage Role Boundaries when the Future is Calling

“…Specific to working students, work-study balance is associated with better academic performance (Tetteh & Attiogbe, 2019), wellbeing (Lenaghan & Sengupta, 2007), and satisfaction (Buda & Lenaghan, 2005). In Australia, lack of balance between work and study has been cited as a key factor in students deferring their study or withdrawing (Burns et al, 2019) and experiencing burnout (Moore & Loosemore, 2014). Thus, as students improve the balance between their work and study, they should be more satisfied academically.…”

Student carer experiences of higher education and support: a scoping review

“…It has highlighted that caring responsibilities can influence students' decisions and experiences within higher education. For instance, student carers' choices of what and where to study have been found to be linked to their caring role, and many sacrificed elements of the student experience, such as social events, to provide better care (Burns et al, 2019). Research has also identified that student carers may experience lower wellbeing than those without caring responsibilities (Day, 2019;Hussain, 2011;NUS, 2015), and face increased financial strain (NUS, 2015).…”