TABLE 5.
Teaching-related factors that PhD students reported positively affected their depression
| Factor | Description | % (n) (N = 43)a | Example quote | Example quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive reinforcement from undergraduates | Positive reinforcement from undergraduates, in the form of positive verbal comments, positive comments on formal evaluations, or watching undergraduates grasp a concept or get excited about content, can positively affect student depression. | 58 (25) | Student 15: “What really helped me during those depressive times were that my students would say like, ‘Sulfates in my shampoo, they’re not good for the water. I learned that from you.’” | Student 5: “Interacting with my undergraduates and feeling like I made a difference for them [helps my depression]. Even if it was just something as simple as them saying like, ‘Oh, wow [Student 5], I feel like I actually really get this now,’ or ‘I did better on this exam after we went over material together.’” |
| Teaching as a structured task | The structured nature of teaching, including having concrete tasks to accomplish and specific places to be at specific times, can positively affect student depression. | 33 (14) | Student 27: “Sometimes having concrete tasks does [help my depression]. With research, you never have deadlines or things that get accomplished or finished. Where at least with teaching, you can sit down and you can grade for three hours. You can do things.” | Student 8: “I have to have the test made by the time class starts on an exam day. I have to make sure that I’m there on time and that I don’t go over time, things like that. So just having that kind of strict schedule, I think helped [my depression].” |
| Passion for teaching | Being passionate about teaching and enjoying teaching can positively affect student depression. | 30 (13) | Student 48: “I’ve always enjoyed teaching. One main reason I did a PhD was to teach at the postsecondary level. So, for me, honestly, the experience of interacting with students is energizing, and does rejuvenate me a lot.” | Student 15: “[Teaching] gave me motivation and kind of like a reason to keep going. I love science, but I love the access to science that I can give to other people.” |
| Distraction from research | Teaching can serve as a distraction from stressors related to research, which can positively affect student depression. | 23 (10) | Student 42: “Research is tedious and difficult and honestly I have to admit I never really had fun with it. But teaching is kind of a way away from that. It’s something that you can still do and you can still contribute like you’ve got a good job and you’re doing things. (…) It helped take my mind off of the hardships of what was going on during research.” | Student 4: “[Teaching] is a good respite from my research sometimes. It’s a different side to being in school.” |
| Confidence about teaching | Having confidence about teaching, specifically about being a good teacher or having mastery of the content, can positively affect student depression. | 14 (6) | Student 42: “[Teaching] is helpful for my depression because, like I am sorry if this is cocky sounding, but I’m really good at teaching and when I go in to teach, it’s like, ‘I know that this is right.’” | Student 50: “It’s good to feel like an expert in front of this group of undergrads. When you come from maybe a lab, or field experience where you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, it can be very positively reinforcing working with undergrads.” |
| Positive relationships with others teaching | Having positive relationships with others involved in teaching, particularly other TAs or a lead instructor, can positively affect student depression. | 12 (5) | Student 16: “[Teaching] was really helpful for my depression, because I made friends with the other TAs, especially during my first year as a TA, and we were all new.” | Student 28: “I had a co-TA giving a lecture with me and he was a very nice person. So, we became friends. Yeah. It helped [my depression] a little bit.” |
aForty-three out of the 50 students who participated in the study had experience teaching undergraduates either as a TA or as an instructor of record. We only considered the responses from the TAs with teaching experiences when calculating the percent of students who reported each factor.