Volunteer with YUGSA in our Mental Health Services for Graduate Students campaign! E-mail campaigns@yugsa.ca to volunteer.
YUGSA united with 12 other graduate student unions in Ontario through the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario to engage in a two-year research project to identify and document the experiences of graduate students’ mental health in Ontario universities.
The results from the survey have been released, and are available for download: Not In The Syllabus Survey Results
Graduate students described that experiences of bullying and harassment, along with other stressors, negatively impact their mental health and increases the likelihood of low self-esteem, poor school performance, anxiety and depression. Students at the graduate level deal with increasing academic demands, social pressures, parents’ expectations, and a looming recognition of the tough job market awaiting them.
YUGSA has demanded that York University provide adequate mental health services for the graduate student population that would accommodate students’ schedules, but the administration has failed to meet growing demand. We need an on-campus counselor who will
be available exclusively to graduate students and is familiar with the unique challenges that graduate students face. In the 2017-18 year we also want to begin addressing the root causes of student mental health issues such as racism, sexism, and the pressure for students to overwork in order to graduate and compete in academia.