The time of their lives

Several thousand students have started their tertiary education at universities around the nation this month. Not all, but most, of them come directly from secondary school, the youngest of whom are just 17.

The next few years will allow their intellects and interests to stretch, their world views to widen and their independence to flourish. There will be challenges along the way, some personal, some educational, some simply related to making the shift to a new life routine.

Professor Johanna Wyn from the Melbourne School of Graduate Education is an expert in youth education and wellbeing, and the lead researcher in one of Australia’s most significant longitudinal studies of young people in Australia.

“The ‘university years’ that correspond for a majority of young people to the years between 18 and 23 bring dramatic changes in how young people live their lives,” she says.

“This is not so much to do with personal development, although no doubt this is a factor, but to do with the sudden change from relatively well-synchronised time to a looser structure of living. Most of these students will have been used to balancing school five days a week between 9am and 3.30pm, homework, weekends of sport and recreation, friends and family time, and maybe some part-time work. 

“This changes when young people go to university – classes can be at any time – in the evening, on weekends, and even over the summer break after first year.

“We know that most students need to work at least part-time and the rise in non-standard working hours across the board means they can be working at almost any time, and often build their university timetable around work,” Professor Wyn says.

In combination with the fact that most students choose a place to study based on academic factors rather than proximity, there can be increased need for travel.

“This busy schedule makes it very difficult for young people in this age group to have common times to meet with significant others among their friends and family, and that they consequently are often managing without or with limited social support.

“Basically, the world for university students becomes much more chaotic compared with the one they experienced during their high school years, and they have to manage this.”

Professor Wyn feels that rather than ‘spinning out’ due to these new pressures, young people show incredible maturity in managing themselves, although not without a cost.

“Our longitudinal studies definitely show that young people’s mental health goes down during the university years. We interpret this as the impact of stress on their lives, and the difficulty of having the benefit of regular social supports,” she says.

Professor Wyn says certain skills are needed for students to thrive.

“The capacity to reflect on one’s situation is crucial, as is having confidence in one’s decisions about a chosen area of study.

“Being connected to at least one other person who they can talk to on a regular basis bridges the danger of becoming isolated and overwhelmed, and it’s also important for students to make space for relaxation, through things like music or sport for instance, which draw the attention and take one’s mind off study and other concerns.”

Professor Wyn says another key factor of success at university is being emotionally and intellectually engaged in what is being studied. 

“It’s very difficult to predict what labour markets and occupations will be like in the future, and one’s focus needs to be sustained over at least three years, so following one’s interests is paramount.”

And as much as interests and intellectual pursuits matter, so too do attitudes – perhaps even more than we might ever have thought, according to Associate Professor Lea Waters, who is Director of Positive Psychology Programs at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

She says while getting into university is about doing well academically, succeeding as a tertiary student calls on all available resources.

“Students have more control over their academic outcomes than they might believe,” Associate Professor Waters says.

“Most people think of academic achievement as purely a result of intelligence, but in fact new research is showing academic achievement is strongly influenced by personal strengths and positive practice.”

In particular, Associate Professor Waters says the personal strengths of hope, self-regulation and curiosity predict academic achievement.

“Hope encourages goal setting. When people set goals they make a regular effort to achieve them, and are also more able to recover from setbacks.

“Self-regulation encourages disciplined behaviour like setting a weekly timetable and sticking to it. In fact, self-regulation is a stronger factor in predicting academic success than intelligence. And curiosity is important because – as obvious as it sounds – being interested in your studies is key to academic success.”

Positive psychology practices have also found wellbeing is strongly linked to academic achievement, Associate Professor Waters says.

“When we feel good we think more clearly; our levels of dopamine increase, which assists in attention, focus and memory. So taking half an hour to go for a walk or see a friend for coffee actually strengthens our capacity for learning.”

Associate Professor Waters’ tips for integrating positive practices into daily life for all people, not just students, include: setting clear goals and multiple pathways to achieve each goal; making time for mental stillness, including a daily ‘digital detox’ of at least 10 minutes when we walk away from the computer, the phone, iPods and other stimuli; adopting a positive mindset and hunting out the good in our lives, no matter how small, to help put life’s challenges into perspective; keeping a journal reflecting on positive things that happen during the day; and fostering positive and supportive relationships.

She says these steps may seem simple but they are powerful.

“The wonderful thing we are learning from research is that really simple practices can enhance our wellbeing and academic achievement. Best of all, these practices can be learned.”

Another crucial factor in helping support young people to make the most of their time at university and flourish is realising students tend to spend longer in formal education these days, whether that’s from studying part time to accommodate work, or continuing through undergraduate into professional or research programs. 

This can delay earning potential, possibly keep students living at home with their families for longer, and appear to be a deferral of entering the adult world.

But Professor Wyn says research doesn’t show any evidence of an ‘extended adolescence’, and in fact such challenges are just a normal part of early adult life.

“In our experience of nearly 20 years of longitudinal research, this idea of young people having an extended adolescence only makes sense if the baby boomer generation is seen to be the standard,” she says.

“Compared with boomers, young people today spend more time in education, have more chaotic timetables, precarious and part-time work commitments and enter long-term partnerships or marriage at a later age. 

“But, this is the reality of adulthood – it’s not a prolonged adolescence.”

In fact, she says, even for baby boomers, adulthood has become less stable.

“In our current social and economic environment jobs don’t last, about one in every two marriages break-up and people are faced with the task of regularly reinventing themselves. 

“So it’s actually wrong to dismiss the longer period spent in formation of the adult self as an extended adolescence. The point is that our society has changed – it’s not just some kind of generational reversion to an adolescent state. The conditions for early entry into a stable adult life are gone.

“Our assessment is that far from being in an extended adolescence, young people today enter adult practices earlier than their counterparts in previous generations. They engage in sexual relationships earlier, are more likely to be working and studying – which takes good management skills – and are culturally connected locally and globally.”

www.education.unimelb.edu.au