International Master’s Degree Students’ Well-being at a Finnish University During COVID-19

Abstract: The rapid developments and consequences of the COVID-19 crisis for university students’ well-being are presently being studied across the world. This study contributes to the growing discourse on university students’ well-being by exploring changes in international Master’s degree students’ well-being in relation to the move to online teaching and learning at a Finnish university during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study draws on 37 answers to an open-ended question about remote teaching and learning at the end of a survey on university students’ stress. The text data were analysed conducting a preliminary quantitative content analysis and a more detailed thematic analysis, from which two themes were developed. The first theme concerned respondents’ well-being with regard to their friends and family, including the desire for human connection, ways of coping and health concerns. The second theme concerned respondents’ well-being with regard to their studies, including the importance of social life on campus, affected concentration and motivation, degree-related complications, and online teaching and supervision. The findings suggest that sociocultural well-being may extend beyond acculturation and that decreased psychological well-being has repercussions for international students’ studies. The study concludes with a discussion of the study’s limitations and practical implications.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: International Master’s Degree Students’ Well-being at a Finnish University During COVID-19 ; volume:2 ; number:1 ; year:2020 ; pages:240-251 ; extent:12 ; Open education studies ; 2, Heft 1 (2020), 240-251 (gesamt 12)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Pappa, Sotiria ; Yada, Takumi ; Perälä-Littunen, Satu

Further information

• DOI: 10.1515/edu-2020-0128
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2412131629336.811270103184
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:35 AM CEST