Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Perceived Stress and Eating Behaviors of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students of UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados

Objective: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and eating behaviors of university students in Barbados was investigated. Design and Methods: Students completed an online survey between June and July 2021 including the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4), SCOFF Questionnaire, and Salzburg Stress Eating Scale. We used bivariate and multivariable logistic regression to assess factors associated with eating behaviour and eating disorders. Result(s): Of 506 respondents (mean age 26 years, 81.4% female, 85.2% undergraduates), 7.23% were underweight, 52.34% normal weight, 20.85% overweight, and 19.57% obese. PHQ-4 screening suggested anxiety prevalence of 46% (95% CI 42% to 51%) with 22% (95% CI 17% to 25%) severe anxiety, and 43% (95% CI 39% to 47%) depression prevalence. 22.5 % of students screened positive for eating disorders on the SCOFF;positive screen for eating disorder was more likely positive in obese (36%) vs underweight (15%) students (p Conclusion(s): The screening instruments indicated concerning levels of anxiety, depression, and eating disorders associated with the COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Barbados. These conditions may remain undetected unless students seek help or are referred. Proactive health services and educational outreach are needed. Prevalence estimates should be viewed with caution until cut-off scores are empirically established for students in Barbados.

Intersections of the mental, social, economic, and physical burdens of COVID-19 on women in academia

The presence of COVID-19 amid an inflexible, binary-gendered South African academia has imposed increased mental, social, economic, and physical burdens on women, intersecting race, class, gender, and culture. COVID-19 has exposed issues in wage gaps, role overloads, research productivity, tenure, mentorship, and work-life balance, drawing attention to the burdens experienced by women. While women academics experienced varied challenges pre-COVID-19, the pandemic exacerbated these and regressed the advancement of women in academia. The numerous challenges that women academics experience are categorised under the four key areas, namely mental, social, economic, and physical encumbrances. A qualitative desktop methodology and an auto-ethnographic approach are adopted in this study to examine the burdens of a virtual university on women. An exploration of scientific studies was incorporated into the presented chapter. The chapter is underpinned by a theoretical framework describing the social construction of reality and intersectionality, which is well placed in circumstances where women are marginalised. To respond to the current position that COVID-19 and the transformed university structures have placed women academics in, a multidisciplinary gendered inclusive approach is utilised. Placing women at the centre of the clinical model will yield an integrated institutional model. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

South African specific complexities in aligning graduate attributes to employability

South African higher education (HE) cannot be compared to any other country's HE systems due to the unique political landscape and structural narrative that it has undergone. Subsequent to the reorganisation of HEIs in 2004, a number of complexities arose. These included accessibility to education across race and the alignment of the South African HEIs to global pedagogic benchmarks. With the changing political landscape, transformations within higher education, socio economic inequities and changes in the workplace, researchers failed to cognize the impact of these factors on graduate employability. Changing graduate attributes to align with a decolonised curriculum and Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) workspaces were transiently underway when COVID-19 set a new narrative for the future of employability. This paper seeks to identify the impact of workplace changes and its direct influence on successful graduate employment and integration into the HE curriculum. The work environment has cursorily moved from 4IR to an advanced stage of the 4IR, where there is a full emphasis on digitisation, non-localised workspaces and is an ostensible playground for digital natives (Generation Z). This paper provides a systematic review of literature in the South African HE contexts that pertains to graduate attributes for employability within the workplace. The adoption of malleable secondary data will allow for an understanding of the relationship between changing workplace environments and expectations from graduates. This correlation is directly linked to graduate attributes which students need to comply with from year one. The paper will provide context to changes which are required for the future success of graduates, and whether graduate attributes are adequate preparation for employability. A clinical model is recommended with an intervention to manage the risk factors of decolonisation of curriculum, the 4IR and multi-generational workplace and responses to COVID-19. © 2021 Deakin University. All rights reserved.