The Impact of COVID-19 on the Careers of Women in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2021) / Chapter Skim
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7 Mental Health and Well-being
7 Mental Health and Well-being
Pages 95-108
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From page 95... ...
In particular, this chapter provides evidence that psychosocial, professional, and biological factors contribute to greater risk for mental health concerns among academic women versus men in STEMM fields. The evidence available at the end of 2020 from across the globe indicated that women in the general population, particularly those on the frontlines of 1 This chapter is primarily based on the commissioned paper "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Women in STEMM," by C
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From page 96... ...
Therefore, this chapter discusses key indicators and evidencebased assessments for burnout and mental illness, gender differences in stress exposures, the effects of epidemics and pandemics on the workforce in specific STEMM fields such as medicine and nursing, and the effects of social-distancing public health requirements on university students and faculty more generally, as well as interventions to promote well-being among academic women in STEMM fields. Where appropriate, data from studies focusing on the impact of previous epidemics and the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of women in health care and those in the general population were extrapolated to women in academic STEMM.
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From page 97... ...
. EFFECTS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC-RELATED STRESS ON WOMEN IN STEMM Several organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Veterans Health Administration, state governments, and public health agencies, have developed web pages listing a wide range of COVID-19–associated sources of stress, such as personal, family, and community health related to the risk of infection; financial related to loss of job or wages; childcare resulting from school and/or daycare closures; social isolation; and the uncertain future
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From page 98... ...
As discussed in Chapter 4, women tend to be the major caregivers within an extended family, and, as a result, they are more likely to experience increased stress associated with caring for themselves, loved ones, or friends who contract disease. Along with social isolation and sheltering, there has been an increase in domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding yet another stressor predominantly for women (Boserup et al., 2020)
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From page 99... ...
As described more fully in Chapter 3, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in academic STEMM fields has already been observed as a decrease in productivity. With variation by discipline, women published fewer papers and received fewer citations of their work between March 2020 and December 2020 (Amano-Patino et al., 2020; Andersen et al., 2020; Gabster et al., 2020)
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From page 100... ...
. Institutional leaders have several validated tools to measure burnout available to them, including the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (designed to be used for any occupation; see Table 7-1; NAM, n.d.)
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From page 101... ...
. Sleep Quality Insomnia is both a symptom and a predictor of onset or exacerbation of a number of mental health disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
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From page 102... ...
Women who are balancing work-related expectations with "sandwiched care" responsibilities (such as caring for both emerging adult children and elderly parents; see Chapter 4) can greatly impact sleep quality and may lead to women leaving academic STEMM (Mavriplis et al., 2010)
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From page 103... ...
Assessing Mental Health in the STEMM Workforce Validated tools such as the 2-item and 9-item Patient Health Questionnaires, or PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 (Kroenke et al., 2001, 2003) , the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006)
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Pittsburgh Sleep Individuals report on seven components of sleep: sleep quality, sleep Quality Index (PSQI; latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use Buysse et al., 1989) of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction.
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From page 105... ...
. The risk factors included lower economic resources and greater exposures to stressors.5 Literature that focuses on mental health among health-care workers also consistently reports being a woman as a risk factor for adverse mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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From page 106... ...
. Trauma Exposures and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Within 1 month of the COVID-19 epidemic emerging in Wuhan province, investigators in China examined posttraumatic stress syndrome (PTSS)
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From page 107... ...
Providing clarity regarding safety measures and making sure that individuals feel adequately trained to meet the needs of their job during the pandemic are critical for mental health. Social supports and personal traits such as TABLE 7-2 Risk and Resilience Factors: Documentation from Health-Care Workers Extrapolated to Academic Women in STEMM Health-Care Worker Women in STEMM Fields Risk Factors Unpredictability at work Daily caseload Access to laboratory and Managing expectations Families and patients equipment Increased acuity Increase in critically ill Mentors, program officers Decision-making burden Increased executive load Meeting deadlines Traumatic exposures More deaths per day Increased executive load New procedures New treatments to learn Threat of infection, loss of job "COVID-izing" research Resilience Factors Supportive family and friends Supportive family and friends Supportive family and friends Support at work Supervisor, colleagues Mentor, collaborators, labmates Feeling adequately trained Trainings and supervision Support to "COVID-ized" work Structure in the workplace Team approach Structured office and home Safety in the workplace Clear safety instructions time Coping strategies Humor and planning Clear safety instructions Confidants Open dialog about stress Humor and planning Personal beliefs/meaning Altruism and spirituality Open dialog about stress Altruism and spirituality NOTE: While the majority of research focusing on risk and resilience factors for posttraumatic stress and other mental health concerns has focused on health-care workers, many of the principals can be extrapolated to academic women in other STEMM fields.
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From page 108... ...
COVID-19 pandemic-related factors conspire to increase these problems for women in academic STEMM. Social isolation, lack of or disconnection from women role models, previous and ongoing exposures to discrimination and related stress, biological and hormonal factors, and economic and family concerns are just a few of the larger social determinants of mental health among women in STEMM.
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