Many doctoral students experienced severe and unfair disruptions to their work-family balance as a result of the Covid-19 lockout measures imposed in response to the epidemic, worsening their mental health concerns.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in inequalities in mental health between men and women over the world, which is a major public health concern.

According to a new study led by academics from McGill University, Université de Montréal, and Universite du Québec à Chicoutimi, this is the first time that gendered stressors and the role of work-family conflict have been documented in the context of a pandemic outbreak.

The findings of the study were published in the journal Preventive Medicine Report. 

According to the lead author, Jaunathan Bilodeau, a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Sociology at McGill University under the supervision of Professor Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, the Canada Research Chair in Policies and Health Inequalities, “Mental health problems are particularly prevalent among graduate students, and our research suggests that the pandemic may have exacerbated these issues as well as some gender-based inequalities.”

As a result of working from home, there was more friction with family obligations.

Because of Covid-19, lockdown measures in Canada have had a significant impact on higher education. Universities and colleges have closed their doors, requiring both professors and students to work from their homes or other remote locations. 

According to the findings of the study, the Covid-19 lockdown measures were not gender-neutral. Women, for example, reported higher levels of stress as a result of adjusting to new remote teaching methods. The presence of greater depressive symptoms was found to be connected with this, not just directly, but also indirectly, as a result of work interfering with family life. Women were also more concerned about Covid-19 than men were.

According to the researchers, the disparity between men and women could be explained by differences in attitudes toward risk and the caregiving obligations imposed by the epidemic itself. In light of the fact that many of the women who participated in our study had a close contact who caught Covid-19, the mental load or caregiving associated with this concern could have had a negative impact on women’s capacity to balance work and home commitments, according to Bilodeau. 

Despite the fact that women were more concerned, they also reported receiving more emotional support than males. “Our research demonstrates that the lockdown has negative repercussions for men’s mental health as well. According to Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, author of the study, “It invites us to consider mental health from the perspective of men who have the greatest exposure to specific stressors and the greatest lack of resources.” The findings of the study were consistent with earlier studies that have found that men in Quebec receive less emotional assistance than women. 

Men, according to the findings of the study, had a harder time dealing with family obligations that interfered with their employment. A possible explanation could be found in the gendered regulation of work-family boundaries both before and after the pandemic. Men’s duties in the home and at work may have been more segmented before to the epidemic. As a result of containment, the physical separation between family and work may have become more difficult to maintain, resulting in greater perceived conflicts between family and work,” explains Bilodeau. ” 

Generally speaking, graduate students aspiring to a career in academia are at greater risk of work-family conflict than the general population because they are attempting to establish research and publication records in a highly competitive environment while also being demographically in the early stages of family formation, according to Quesnel-Vallée. Relationship status, having children, being upset about new teaching methods, and being concerned about Covid-19 were all found to be associated with increased work-family conflict.

As a result of our research, we have identified action levers that can be used to reduce mental health disparities among graduate students by modifying and expanding assistance for those who work from home.” Nancy Beauregard, Professor at the Université de Montréal’s School of Industrial Relations and co-author of the study, adds that proactive mental health services and policies for balancing work and family are among the recommendations. According to the study, governments and universities should take these aspects into account in order to lessen the likelihood of depressive symptoms and mental health inequities during the pandemic.