Challenges in higher education and mental health in university studentes in times of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

This article is part of the context of the ongoing research "Educational inequalities, representations and experiences of university education in times of COVID-19 and post COVID-19", of the Directorate of Research and Development (DIDE) UTA, Ecuador. This work analyzes various investigations carried out in countries such as Mexico, Peru, Spain, Chile, the Caribbean, and Colombia. In contexts of Higher Education in the framework of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Teachers, students and society in general experienced significant changes in their daily lives. On the one hand, the teachers of the Higher Education Institutions had to change or adapt the components of the curriculum such as the teaching methodology in online mode. The digital divide versus, the way to teach classes and pre-professional practices in person in physical classrooms. On the other hand, students consider that teachers are not prepared for this type of study. In addition, they consider that not all students have access to virtual education. The economic and technological aspect, as well as the physical interaction with peers and teachers, plays a very important role in times of pandemic. To all these variables are added the mental health of the students. Who were affected to a greater extent than teachers. Being the pictures depressive, anxious the most common in the student community. Therefore, stress levels were also elevated in populations of university students before the Covid-19 pandemic.