‘We barely survived’: Social work students’ mental health vulnerabilities and implications for educators, universities and the workforce

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Evidence is mounting that poverty and psychological stress among university students are common and the mental health of university students is a topic of increasing attention.METHODS: In late 2015, 2,320 social work students from 29 Australian universities completed an online survey on the impact of low income on students’ daily lives and study success.FINDINGS: Overall, students revealed financial hardships and a precarious balancing act of study, limited finances, paid work and family. Some students revealed the impact of these hardships on their mental health and wellbeing. Undertaking compulsory field placement increased students’ financial stresses and exacerbated mental health vulnerabilities.CONCLUSIONS: The qualitative findings reported here draw on students’ responses within the larger student survey data set where mental health impacts were reported. These findings have implications for universities, social work education, field

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32 VOLUME 30 • NUMBER 1 • 2018 AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL WORK
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
“We barely survived”: Social work
students’ mental health vulnerabilities and
implications for educators, universities and
the workforce
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Evidence is mounting that poverty and psychological stress among university
students are common and the mental health of university students is a topic of increasing
attention.
METHOD: In late 2015, 2,320 social work students from 29 Australian universities completed an
online survey on the impact of low income on students’ daily lives and study success.
FINDINGS: Overall, students revealed financial hardships and a precarious balancing act of
study, limited finances, paid work and family. Some students revealed the impact of these
hardships on their mental health and wellbeing. Undertaking compulsory field placement
increased students’ financial stresses and exacerbated mental health vulnerabilities.
CONCLUSIONS: The qualitative findings reported here draw on students’ responses within
the larger student survey data set where mental health impacts were reported. These findings
have implications for universities, social work education, field placement preparation and the
health of the social work graduate workforce within, and beyond, Australia.
KEYWORDS: university studies, social work, mental health, wellbeing, poverty
CORRESPONDENCE TO:
Susan
Susan.Gair@jcu.edu.au
AOTEAROA
NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL
WORK 30(1), 32–44.
Susan Gair1 and Len Baglow2
A social inclusion agenda, widened access to
university and a growing market economy
in higher education have led to increased
diversity in contemporary university cohorts.
Students from a range of backgrounds, with
different abilities and needs are advancing
their skills to meet labour market demands
and career opportunities through tertiary
studies, including in social work.
Australian universities have well established
student welfare services, and it often may
be assumed that students from diverse
backgrounds can make the required academic
transitions to degree completion and aspired
social mobility (Gofen, 2007; Haveman &
Smeeding, 2006). However, government
income support for tertiary students is
decreasing, and this may contribute to
significant financial and study stresses for
students (Bexley, Daroesman, Arkoudis, &
James, 2013; Landstedt, Coffey, Wyn, Cuervo,
& Woodman, 2017; Storrie, Ahern, & Tuckett,
2010). It has been identified that juggling
study, paid work and family commitments can
put students at risk of mental health stresses
1 James Cook University,
Townsville,
2 St Vincent de Paul
Society National Council
Australia, ACT

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without adequate supports (Agllias, Howard,
Cliff, Dodds, & Field, 2016). Paradoxically, the
individualised nature of mental health stigma
may deter students from seeking help during
their studies (Gulliver, Griffiths, & Christensen,
2010; Newcomb, Burton, & Edwards, 2017;
Stallman, 2010). A recently released report
identified clear deficits in current knowledge
about Australian tertiary students’ mental
health (Orygen, 2017).
Working-class, first-generation, Indigenous
and mature-aged students, students with a
range of disabilities, and those with family
responsibilities collectively comprise a
growing proportion of higher education
enrolments in Australia (Devlin & McKay,
2017; Haveman & Smeeding, 2006; Martin,
2009). These students may already be under
financial and social stresses in many aspects
of their lives, often due to structural and
social disadvantage, over-indebtedness,
material hardship, welfare cuts, and modest
available income (Byron, 2017; Krumer-Nevo,
Gorodzeisky, & Saar-Heiman, 2016; Tones,
Fraser, Elder, & White, 2009). There appears
to be limited structural analysis in the higher
education literature highlighting the everyday
implications of low income for students who
are members of these newer cohorts.
The purpose of this article is to report on
specific findings from a larger national
study on the impact of low levels of income
on study success of Australian social
work students. The study was informed
by findings from a smaller study in 2014
of student members of the Australian
Association of Social Work (AASW) that
revealed high rates of student poverty when
compared to Universities Australia’s (UA)
national study of tertiary students (Bexley et
al., 2013). The unique focus of this article is
on how students’ limited finances (as linked
to undertaking university studies) impacts
their mental health and wellbeing.
Mental health of tertiary students
Growing evidence indicates that university
students may represent a high-risk
population for psychological distress and
mental health issues (Martin, 2009; Reid &
Poole, 2013; Orygen Report, 2017). According
to Landstedt et al. (2017, p. 340), definitions
of mental health often “are broad and
complex” but can include psychiatrically
defined conditions, psychological and
emotional distress and “the more socially
framed term mental wellbeing.” The recently
released Orygen Report (2017) identified
ongoing deficits in current knowledge
concerning young Australian tertiary
students’ mental health and wellbeing,
while the mental health of more diverse,
mature-aged cohorts appears equally
under-researched. The Orygen Report
identified that students may not seek help
for psychological distress due to the stigma
associated with mental illness.
Equally, Martin (2009) and others have
reported that, increasingly, tertiary students
may have a pre-existing mental health
condition upon enrolment into higher
education that, without adequate support,
could hinder their studies. However, they
confirmed that many students experienced
the onset of mental illness after the
commencement of their university studies,
because undertaking their studies generated
significant mental health stresses (Martin,
2009; Storrie et al., 2010).
Further, it has been identified that the
stigma and shame of mental illness, and
fears of discrimination following students
through their studies and into the workplace,
constitutes a powerful disincentive to
revealing mental health issues and seeking
help (McAuliffe, Boddy, McLennan, &
Stewart, 2012). Martin (2009) argued that
“many students went to considerable efforts
to hide their mental health matters and in
doing so struggled to meet university study
requirements” (p. 259). It also has been
suggested that early adversity may be a factor
in some students’ mental health vulnerabilities
(Karatekin, 2016). Interestingly, Martin (2009)
found that students who disclosed details of
their mental health concerns to university staff
reported improved outcomes.

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The Orygen Report (2017) identified that
tertiary students experiencing mental health
issues were more likely to exit their course
before completion and they highlighted
that non-completion was a costly loss
for students, families, universities and
the professional workforce. “High risk”
groups listed by the Report (2017, p. 14)
are international students, students from
rural/regional areas and low socioeconomic
backgrounds, students studying law
and medicine, first-generation students,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students, and students with a physical
disability. While the Orygen Report focused
on younger university students, Stallman
(2010) found female students with financial
stresses, aged under 34 and in a subsequent
year of their degree were at higher risk of
psychological distress than other students
and the general populations. Stallman
(2010) argued that, without support and
intervention, these students were at risk of
severe mental illness. Earlier research by Lo
(2002) similarly identified a combination of
inadequate finances, study requirements,
family, and health concerns as impacting
some student cohorts.
Inadequate student fi nances
In Australia, the government income
support system predominantly is allowances
distributed through Centrelink to eligible
recipients. In 1997, the payment rate for
the unemployment allowance was 92% of
the Aged/Disability Pension rate. By 2013
the rate was 67% of the pension rate and
declining (Klapdor, 2013). Youth Allowance
and Austudy/Abstudy allowances
(allowances for youth, and non-Indigenous
and Indigenous students) are paid at lower
rates than the unemployment allowance.
At the time of writing, Youth and study
allowances were the equivalent of 54% of the
pension rate. This minimal rate of available
government income support for eligible
tertiary students helps to demonstrate
the context for current students’ lived
experiences of trying to juggle paid work
and study.
The UA’s student finances study (2012)
reported that, among the 80.6% of domestic
full-time undergraduate students in paid
employment, the average hours worked had
increased over the previous four years, and
50% of students indicated that their paid
work adversely impacted their studies. UA
also found that 18.2% of full-time domestic
students reported regularly foregoing
necessities including food and required
medications (Bexley et al., 2013). Elsewhere,
much higher rates of food insecurity are
reported in tertiary cohorts than in the
general population (Gallegos, Ramsey &
Ong, 2014).
Australia’s attrition rate is comparatively
low and re-enrolment data identify that
university students who withdraw from
studies frequently re-enrol; however,
low-socioeconomic students and first-
generation students are least likely to
return to studies (Cardak & Vecci, 2016;
Harvey, 2017; Spiegler & Bednarek, 2013).
Equally, students are aware of the “rising
bar” of competitive employment and labour
market demands, where a tertiary degree
increasingly is required to gain entry to, or
maintain employment (Orygen, 2017,
p. 22, cited in Vic Health and CSIRO, 2015).
Overall, it seems that a range of issues,
including social and structural disadvantage,
financial constraints and study requirements
may contribute to mental health stresses for
tertiary students.
Social determinants of health,
wellbeing and social mobility
It is acknowledged that socioeconomic
factors including low levels of education,
employment and income, gender, age,
cultural background, low-socioeconomic
status, geographical location, and disability
are important determinants of wellbeing and
social mobility (Graham, 2000). However,
Landstedt et al. (2017) argued that it remains
difficult to unravel how social and structural
conditions interact to impact students’ mental
health, and their recent research suggests
students from middle-income backgrounds

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may be more vulnerable. Nevertheless,
Landstedt et al. (2017) acknowledged that
a combination of study, work and financial
hardship, particularly if hardship continued
over several years, could contribute to poor
student mental health, with students who
support themselves and who have inadequate
finances being at most risk.
Neoliberal infl uences
Neoliberalism has been identified as
a set of political beliefs, values, and
practices informing heightened regulation,
accountability and competition, greater
justification of public expenditure, the
extension of business strategies across public,
social welfare and educational sectors, and
increased assertion of individual rather than
state responsibility (Strauss & Hunter, 2017).
The collision of unprecedented expansion
of higher education, a restructured higher
education sector, neoliberal values influencing
social policies, and widened access to
adult education, may have rendered some
students vulnerable and without adequate
ongoing support (Pitman, Roberts, Bennett, &
Richardson, 2017). Layton (2009) identified
that the corporate culture espoused by
neoliberalist ideology promotes superficiality
and a denial or minimisation of the structural
positioning and wellbeing vulnerabilities
of some individuals. Other authors have
cautioned that social work education and
practice have not escaped the impacts and
implications of neoliberalist thinking (Morley,
2016; Wallace & Pease, 2011).
Social work students, emotional
exhaustion and mental health
Some studies have looked at the specific
experiences of social work students juggling
paid work and studies. Collins, Coffey,
and Morris (2010) identified a relationship
between emotional exhaustion experienced
by UK social work students and necessary
employment in part-time jobs, although
they reported that students with family
commitments appeared to be coping with
multiple demands.
In a similar, Australian, study by Ryan,
Barns, and McAuliffe (2011) across three
social work programmes the researchers
found that, while the benefits of paid work
were acknowledged, 76% of students
identified fatigue and reduced time for
study. In a more recent Australian study,
and in contrast to the earlier-noted UK study,
Agllias et al. (2016) identified that many
social work students struggled to balance
studies, work and family commitments, with
the situation being more precarious during
field placement. Elsewhere, Reardon (2012)
identified that the stressful balancing act for
social work students of juggling studies,
job and family may trigger or exacerbate
mental health issues, while Ying (2011,
p. 280) argued that tertiary study “exacts a
cost” on social work students’ mental health
(p. 280), including a “disequilibrium” during
field education that may not be restored
by graduation (p. 288). Johnstone, Brough,
Crane, Marston, and Correa-Velez (2016)
called for urgent collaborative efforts from
multiple key stakeholders to help address
the hardships that can make students more
vulnerable to psychological stresses.
Of interest, Ketchen Lipson, Zhou, Wagner,
Beck, and Eisenberg (2016) suggested that
social work students may be more likely
than engineering or business students to seek
help for mental health stresses. However,
highlighting the complexities, Newcomb
et al. (2017) found that, while some social work
students were motivated to study because of
their service user status or lived experiences,
they feared disclosing their own use of services
due to perceived shame and stigma.
Similarly, research by Rubio-Valera et al.
(2016) revealed almost one third of social work
students participating in workshops on mental
health stigma had experienced mental health
concerns themselves. Yet Covarrubias and Han
(2011) identified that many students entering
social work programmes held stigmatising
attitudes toward people with mental illness.
McAuliffe et al. (2012) highlighted further
complexities for social work educators who
sought to value students’ lived experiences

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of mental ill-health and encourage students
to access support services, yet who needed to
uphold the profession’s duty of care to ensure
graduates are fit to practice.
In relation to facilitating a mentally healthy
workforce, Newell and Nelson-Gardell
(2014) identified gaps in social work
programmes regarding instruction on self-
care. Similarly, research by Robins et al.
(2017) identified burnout as increasingly
evident in tertiary student cohorts.
They undertook research with nursing,
psychology, occupational therapy and
social work students and identified student
burnout as a predictor of burnout in the
workplace. They call for urgent intervention
for a healthier student body who would
graduate to become a resilient workforce.
In this article, specific findings from a
large national survey on the financial and
study circumstances of Australian social
work students are reported. While broader
findings have been published elsewhere
(Baglow & Gair, 2018; Gair & Baglow, 2017),
here the impact on students’ mental health
and wellbeing of studying with insufficient
income is revealed, and strategies for change
are recommended.
Design and method
The primary aim of the larger study, from
which the mental health data reported here
were drawn, was to explore the impact of low
or insufficient income on the lives and study
success of Australian social work students.
At the time, no previous large national
study of social work students’ experiences
was identified. The study proceeded as
a partnership between the AASW and a
regional university. The research design
comprised a national web-based survey.
Data collection occurred during the second
semester of 2015. The survey enabled the
collection of both quantitative and qualitative
data (Creswell, 2013).
The survey consisted of 23 questions covering
demographic information, government
allowances received; hours of, and reasons
for, paid work; and whether students’ families
supported them financially. Other questions
sought to ascertain the impact of insufficient
income on students’ lives and studies; the
experience of studying while meeting family
responsibilities; hours spent studying;
income; savings; and any added impact of
compulsory field placements. The study
received University Human Ethics Committee
approval and was overseen by a national
reference group. To participate, students
read online information about the study and
then progressed to voluntarily complete an
anonymous online survey. A total of 2,320
students completed the survey, constituting
approximately 25% of all enrolled social work
students at the time.
Respondents
In all, 87% of respondents identified as female
and 13% male. Of these, 31% were under
25 years of age, 33% were aged between 25
and 34 years and 36% were over 35. These
figures reflect, in general, the gender and age
profile of social work students in Australia.
A total of 75% of students indicated that
they had a full-time study load, 14% had a
part-time load and 9% identified they were
studying externally by distance education.
A majority (64%) of students lived in a
metropolitan area, 27% in a regional area
and 9% in a rural area. All Australian states
and territories were represented in the study.
Some 4% of respondents identified their
cultural background as Aboriginal and/or
Torres Strait Islander, representing a higher
rate than population percentages. A total
of 47% of students received government
financial assistance in the form of allowances
or pensions. Respondents were drawn from
the 29 Australian social work programmes
accredited at the time of the study, and
represented multiple year levels within
Bachelor and Masters Qualifying programmes.
Data analysis
The quantitative data analysis and findings,
and specific qualitative findings are presented

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elsewhere. Three questions on the survey that
enabled both quantitative and qualitative
responses specifically focussed on financial
hardship impacting studies. Question 5
asked about insufficient finances for necessities
whilst studying (see Table 1). This question
attracted 829 qualitative responses. Question
7 asked how their studies were impacted by lack
of sufficient financial support. This question
offered multiple options and attracted 330
qualitative responses. Question 11 asked
students about juggling student placement and
paid work. This question attracted a total of
614 qualitative responses. No question on the
survey asked students to comment on mental
health concerns or experiences. However, as
revealed below, the qualitative data analysis
process provoked further, specific analysis in
relation to this topic.
During the broader, qualitative data analysis
process, responses were read multiple times
and recurring patterns and concepts were
documented. Themes were named and
then renamed during a process of sorting
and synthesising until a point of saturation
was reached with key themes linked back
to questions asked (Liamputtong, 2009).
However, after a primary level thematic
analysis of the qualitative data, it seemed
apparent that mental health may be a unique
and important code, and further analysis
could assist in illuminating it.
Liamputtong (2009, p. 282, cited in Miles &
Huberman, 1994) identified several reasons
for “counting” within a qualitative analysis,
including “to see rapidly what you have
in a large batch of data”. Liamputtong
argued that identifying the number of times
concepts appear across the data can add to
meaning-making and take the researcher
into “unforeseen areas” (2009, p. 282, cited
in Altheide, 1996, 2004). In this instance, a
specific, content analysis component within
the larger qualitative analysis process was
used primarily to help render visible a new
code for further focussed thematic analysis
within the large volume of textual material.
As noted, no question on the survey asked
students about mental health issues, mental
illness, stress, anxiety or depression. Yet it was
evident that, for some students, these were
important concepts – a word-use frequency
count revealed 317 instances where these
terms were used. This step helped researchers
capture important common threads in some
students’ narratives around mental health.
The thematic analysis process resumed.
Responses containing the identified concepts
were read multiple times and a synthesising
process of identifying and naming patterns
resulted in four key themes. It is these specific
findings in relation to mental health and
wellbeing that are presented here.
Results
In the following section, brief quantitative
data from Question five from the national
survey provide a contextual backdrop for
the qualitative data reported here. Table 1
illustrates quantitatively the range of ways
a lack of finances was impacting many
students’ lives.
Table 1. As a Student Have You Had at Any Time Insufficient Money for Any of the Following?
Percentage of students
answering in the affirmative
Number of students
answering in the affirmative
Food 33% 760
Clothing 39% 902
Accommodation 30% 625
Educational Resources 54% 1263
Transport 36% 825
Medication 29% 675

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Students were asked in Question 5: As a
student have you had at any time insufficient
money for any of the following? (Food, clothing,
accommodation, educational resources,
transport, medication). Students’ responses
indicated they had experienced difficulties
securing necessities during their studies,
including 675 students who nominated that they
had insufficient financial resources for medication.
That point is further illuminated later.
Qualitative data
The themes below represent dominant patterns
and sentiments in the qualitative responses
related specifically to students’ mental health.
These themes are: i) financial hardship impacts
mental health and wellbeing; ii) forced
decisions to gain necessities; iii) insufficient
funds hinder mental health management;
and iv) field placement increases ill-health/
burnout. Given the complexity of the topic,
some longer quotes help capture the multi-
faceted dynamics.
Financial hardship impacts mental
health and wellbeing
Many students in this study identified how
financial constraints impacted their everyday
survival while studying. As exemplified by
this student and their partner, studying part-
time was taking a mental health toll:
…my partner and I were studying full
time via distance education, no support
from parents… we’re on Centrelink
benefits. We barely survived. After those
six years, we could no longer cope with
living in poverty as it had a significant
impact on our health, mental health and
general wellbeing.
For the next student, and many others,
affording medication, food, fuel and secure
accommodation was difficult, and going
without these items impacted their health,
study results and mental health:
I … had to get medication … and owe
pharmacies for scripts, eat toast for days,
borrow money for petrol etc, postpone
specialist appointments … trawl through
op shops for clothes appropriate for work,
go … without textbooks … and my mental
health and grades have suffered as a result.
For the first three months of semester one
this year I was couch-surfing until I could
find affordable stable accommodation.
Equally, this student identified that financial
constraints across their whole degree had
impacted their health:
I have struggled financially throughout
my entire degree... At times I have
been incredibly ill and have not been
able to afford a doctor’s appointment,
medication … and have still been
required to work to sustain an income.
Many students identified that study
requirements meant a reduction in part-time
work hours. This student described how
reduced work hours increased financial and
mental distress:
I have gone down from about 20 hours
per week to 10-15 hours per week which
causes me a lot of mental anguish because
10 hours of work equals my rent and
electricity bills per week, which does not
leave me with anything else.
As noted earlier, Landstedt et al. (2017)
identified that a combination of study,
work and financial hardship, particularly
if hardship continues over several years,
contributed to poor student mental health.
Forced decisions to gain necessities
This second theme gives further depth to the
daily juggle evident in the first theme. The
students provide examples of their need to
choose between necessities or make reluctant
decisions so necessities can be secured.
This student revealed how a financial
shortfall forced them to make choices
between essentials that, in turn, aggravated
their mental health circumstances:

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Often I must choose between food or
transport, frequently late with rent
payments and have had to forgo my
medication I take for depression and
anxiety to get food, fuel etc which serves
only to exacerbate the situation and my
condition.
The below student identifies how they
reluctantly borrowed from friends to afford
necessities including food, medication and
textbooks:
I am a type 1 diabetic with depression
and anxiety. I have … been incapable of
buying medical supplies, textbooks, food
and clothing … I have borrowed from
friends but I feel like a burden.
Equally, this student felt compelled to
move back home with parents to finance
their studies and help juggle paid work and
mental health:
I had to move back in with my parents…
on top of this, I am doing my second
degree currently, and so Centrelink will
only cover 1.5 out of the 5.5 years … so I
have been saving as hard as I can for the
last couple of years and will have to keep
living with my parents until I finish the
degree (I’ll be 31 then). I have been very
lucky to find a job that works around my
uni timetable ... while maintaining my
(fragile) mental health. I have struggled
to afford medical expenses in the past …
as I have a chronic medical problem.
These narratives serve to exemplify social work
students’ experiences expressed in multiple
qualitative responses concerning ongoing
financial hardship that for some, impacted
their studies, health and mental health.
Insuffi cient funds hinder mental
health management
Previous themes identify a complex
balancing act for students of study, paid
work, securing necessities and maintaining
mental health. This theme specifically
highlights how personal management
of mental health was constrained by
students’ financial realities. This student
identified struggling to afford mental health
appointments while studying:
… at times [I] had insufficient funds to
access my regular psychologist sessions
and am unable to afford access to a
psychiatrist.
Similarly, this student prolonged the time
between appointments beyond what was
desirable because they were unaffordable.
I regularly attend appointments to help
manage my mental health, sometimes I
will cancel them because I can’t afford to
go. I find myself spacing them out more
than I would like to, just so I can afford to
get some help.
Mental health medication was a requirement
that could not always be prioritised, as this
student explained:
There’s times where I go without so
at least my children are taken care of
in relation to food and medication. I
have refrained from buying some of
my medication or even following up on
specialist appointments for myself as
I live with a mental illness and severe
arthritis. However, I always make sure
my children have their medication and
required treatment.
As noted earlier, UA found a growing
number of full-time domestic students
regularly going without food or other
necessities including required medications
(Bexley et al., 2013).
Field placement increases ill-health/
burnout
Social work field placements provide the
vital link between classroom learning and
real world practice. Students enrolled
in accredited Australian programmes
undertake a total of 1,000 supervised hours

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of placement, most commonly in two, 15-
week blocks (AASW, 2012, Guiding principle
1.2). Across the entire data set, students
repeatedly identified how the financial and
personal burden of placement contributed
to hardship, and for some, declining mental
health:
In order to achieve 500 hours of placement,
where my current job requires me to
work two days a week, my placement
happened over three days a week. This
was very mentally exhausting… my
mental wellbeing deteriorated … my
circumstances meant I needed to continue
employment, no matter how tough and
unbalanced my life became.
Some students saw emerging signs of mental
distress on placement, implicating a lack of
designated time for reflection and self-care –
as this student articulated:
Lack of time to properly reflect on my
placement and work experience, always
working at placement or paid job, not
enough time for self-care, starting to
notice impacts on my mental health.
Similarly, this student outlined her thoughts
that current placement arrangements did not
facilitate self-care:
… it is unreasonable to expect students
not to need days off for sick leave or life
events ... no ordinary working conditions
prohibit time off for illness and life events
… On both placements I have been at the
office more often than staff members, ...
I don’t think students are … enabled, to
practi[s]e [self-care] during placement.
For the following student, burnout was the
result of trying to juggle paid work, family
and placement:
Working part-time as well as family
commitments while on placement
nearly killed me. Even doing a part-
time placement was hellish … and I was
totally burnt out at the end of each one.
Students’ experiences on placement reflect
previous research findings (Hemy, Boddy,
Chee, & Sauvage, 2016; Johnstone et al.,
2016) that students endure severe hardship
juggling studies, paid work and field
placement, while Robins et al. (2017) identify
student burnout as a growing workforce
concern.
Discussion
Some 20 years ago, Ife (1997) asserted that
legitimising the voices of marginalised
groups is an important, perhaps the only
way, to challenge existing structures and
develop an alternative based on social
justice. In this article, we sought to raise
the voices of social work students as a
marginalised group. The findings presented
here align with the assertion by Landstedt
et al. (2017) that a combination of study,
work and financial hardship, particularly
if hardship continues over several years,
contributes to poor student mental health.
Although the student survey did not ask
students about mental health impacts,
respondents identified they had insufficient
financial resources for necessities including
textbooks, food, fuel, accommodation and
required medications that, for some students,
in turn impacted their mental health.
Poverty, a feature of many of the students’
accounts, is an example of structural
injustice. Such injustices are considered
difficult to correct, because government
system change is needed, as well as
individual and institutional action to agitate
for and support change. Increasingly,
writers highlight the influence of neoliberal
ideologies (Morley, 2016), yet critiquing
neoliberalism alone will not facilitate
strategic future direction.
It seems evident that universities, social
work academics, and relevant professional
associations, all of whom have greater
privilege and power in the higher education
sector than students, have a compelling
responsibility to undertake collective
advocacy for struggling students. The

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quantitative (discussed elsewhere, Baglow
& Gair, 2018) and qualitative data from this
study provide evidence for reconsideration
of the minimal level of government financial
support currently provided to tertiary
students (also see Gair & Baglow, 2017). A
louder call for structural reform is needed,
to correct the injustice of inadequate
government financial support currently
available for tertiary students and help
remove financial barriers that currently
impact heavily on students’ studies, health
and mental health.
A key professional social work body in
Australia is the AASW. The association
has undertaken action over time through
submissions to government on behalf of
tertiary students, calling for increased
financial support. Collective, whole-of-
industry political advocacy will support
those previous submissions, by calling for
increased investment in tertiary students,
particularly for students who come to
university studies already disadvantaged.
This cost-effective measure can contribute
to a healthy, diverse, future industry
workforce. The specific data reported here
identify the fragile mental health of some
students. As noted by Robins et al. (2017),
student burnout may be a predictor of
workplace burnout.
With such national political action as its
underpinnings, processes to reduce student
stressors at a local, university level can be
implemented to contribute to students’
individual wellbeing. Reid and Poole (2013,
p. 208) recommended peer support groups
for students with mental health concerns,
accessible one-to-one counselling, and the
appointment of mental health advocates,
including academics and administrators,
who would stand alongside students
experiencing mental health issues. These
strategies could be easily implemented at
universities nationally.
As noted, Rubio-Valera et al. (2016) revealed
almost one third of social work students
participating in workshops on mental
health stigma had experienced mental
health issues themselves, while Covarrubias
and Han (2011) identified that social work
students may enter their programmes with
stigmatising attitudes toward people with
mental illness, and Newcomb et al. (2017)
reported social work students’ reluctance
to disclose their past service-user status.
Taken together, this literature suggests that
many students may understand the lived
experience of mental ill-health, and training
can equip them with skills and knowledge
to recognise, and work to reduce, mental
health stigma for service users. However,
such awareness may hinder their own help-
seeking behaviour for fear of discrimination
that, in turn, may jeopardise their study
success, professional aspirations and future
career opportunities (Orygen, 2017).
Equally, it could be speculated that, if
fear of discrimination within the tertiary
context prevailed, and social work students
failed to disclose their mental health
status and therefore failed to receive
adequate support then, at the very least,
their lived experiences may inform their
own professional social work practice in
uncritical ways. Fostering an informed,
safe tertiary environment for confidential
disclosures could assist students to gain
necessary organisational and professional
support. Equally, advocacy around the
structural origins of poverty that can impact
individual mental health and wellbeing,
are core elements for social work education
and critical practice. The findings of
this study suggest that Australian social
work educators may need to further
engage in real dialogue with students in
classrooms and online learning spaces
about mental health, and model authentic
conversations that begin from students’
analysis of poverty and mental health
stressors including reflecting on their own
experiences and needs.
Regarding self-care, Bamonti et al. (2014) called
for early intervention and safeguards that
promote students’ wellness to help reduce the
risk of mental health impairment in their future

42 VOLUME 30 • NUMBER 1 • 2018 AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL WORK
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careers. While some students may be familiar
with the concept of burnout, other students,
educators, graduates and practitioners may
not adequately be alert to the early warning
signs. Robins et al. (2017) recommended early
interventions for university students, including
increased supervision, peer mentoring, and
resilience-building curricula. Early intervention
may help optimise student fitness for
professional practice, prevent costly workforce
burnout, particularly early career burnout,
and help build a resilient, mentally healthy
workforce (McAuliffe et al., 2012; Robins et
al., 2017). What is not recommended is action
limited to the promotion of individual self-care
and responsibility. Without lobbying for, and
implementing, integrated reform to ensure
tertiary students have sufficient income and
organisational support, an individual focus
alone would merely echo the notion that the
person is the problem.
In the wider context, Australia is a signatory
to the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including
mental illness. It upholds people with
disabilities as equal citizens with rights to
an inclusive education and lifelong learning.
As such, universities have an obligation and
responsibility to support students’ mental
wellness (Martin, 2009). The social inclusion
agenda and widened access to higher
education has heralded welcome diversity
to university campuses and to many helping
professions including social work – but only
if diverse cohorts complete their courses
and enter the workforce fully able to engage
in demanding professional practice. While
interventions focussed on youth mental
health are emerging, these study findings
suggest diverse student cohorts may have
different support needs and social work
students might be another group to add to
the abovementioned “at risk” list (Orygen
Report, 2017, p. 14). It seems clear that
further research is needed regarding social
work students’ mental health.
Overall, these findings align with evidence
elsewhere in the literature that collective
action by all stakeholder bodies is needed to
help ensure students succeed in their tertiary
studies (Johnstone et al., 2016). Equally,
representative stakeholders, including
the higher education sector, professional
associations, human service organisations
and social work educators can increase their
investment in a more positive mental health
and wellbeing culture, recognising the many
stressors students are juggling. Students may
then feel more enabled to seek help when
required.
Limitations of this study include that the
focus of the larger study was exploring the
impact of low levels of income on students’
study success. Therefore, students with
manageable study circumstances may not
have felt prompted to complete the survey
or comment on levels of income and impacts
on their daily lives. It is acknowledged that
from these findings it cannot be argued that
all tertiary students would report similar
circumstances to those discussed here,
or that social work students necessarily
have unique study circumstances. Further
research is recommended.
Conclusion
These findings help confirm evidence
elsewhere in the literature that juggling
financial hardship and tertiary course
requirements can impact students’ study
experiences, wellbeing and mental health.
There appears to be an urgent need for
universities, the sector and professional
associations to be more receptive to
acknowledging that many students may
be experiencing precarious mental health.
A united approach seems called for in
advocating for reform, including increased
government financial support and targeted
early-intervention strategies that contribute
to a mentally healthy student body and
professional workforce. Further research
may illuminate unique study circumstances
for social work students. Equally, current
findings may have implications beyond the
Australian context and social work student
experience, to a national and international
professional helping workforce.

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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the organisations in the
partnership that supported this research,
the social work students who completed the
survey, the academic and student champions
who promoted the study, and the valuable
guidance of the appointed reference group.
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