Stress and coping among university students in Sierra Leone: Implications for social work practice to promote development through higher education

Abstract

This participatory action study involved interviews with 80 Sierra Leonean university students. Participants reported stress caused by personal challenges (financial, access to transportation, peer pressure, lack of emotional support), university resources (lack of accommodation, water, toilets, learning materials, technology), and issues with instructors (sexual harassment, bribery). Also, the students described their coping strategies, including ‘staying quiet’, seeking external support, turning toward God, engaging in recreation, and ‘encouraging myself’. Implications for social work interventions on the micro level, organizational level, and policy level are discussed in order to take a holistic, systems approach to promoting quality tertiary education in developing countries.

Keywords

Coping strategies Sierra Leone stressors university students

Introduction

Higher education has the potential to be a driver of economic growth (Hanushek and Woßmann, 2010; Montenegro and Patrinos, 2014; Oketch et al., 2014) as well as individual empowerment (Assie-Lumumba, 2006; Ekpiken and Ukpabio, 2015; Freire, 1970). Particular attention has been placed on increasing access to higher education as part of the development agendas of low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Glewwe et al., 2014; Materu, 2007; Uetela, 2017). Given the social work profession’s mandate to promote ‘social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people’ (International Federation of Social Workers [IFSW], 2014), social workers have a unique opportunity to take action by promoting access to quality higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. This article provides insight into the higher education landscape of Sierra Leone by presenting the lived experiences of 80 university students in Sierra Leone, who shared their daily stressors and efforts in coping on the path to acquiring a university degree. Implications for the social work profession are discussed on the micro, institutional, and macro levels of intervention.

Tertiary education in Africa

The World Bank (2009) decried ‘an urgent need for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to acquire the capabilities that will spawn new industries that create more productive jobs, multiple linkages, and a wider range of exports’, and encouraged a focus on capacitating tertiary education institutions given the potential economic returns of tertiary education (p. xix). While education has been linked to economic growth, several issues exist with higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, an increase in access to tertiary education and decrease in per-student spending has diminished the quality of learning conditions in Sub-Saharan African universities (Majgaard and Mingat, 2012; World Bank, 2009). This is noteworthy as studies show the economic impact of higher education is lower in Sub-Saharan Africa because of the lower school quality (Glewwe et al., 2014).

With regard to quality, scholars have also expressed concerns about corruption, disorganization of systems of higher education, problems with carrying capacity, infrastructural challenges, inadequate public financing, and weak support by the international donor community (Azcona et al., 2008; Idogho and Imonikhe, 2012; Mohamedbhai, 2015; Transparency International, 2013; Ugwu et al., 2013). Labor market failure is another concern as there is considerable unemployment among university graduates, often as a result of mismatch of supply (skills acquired by students in university) and demand (jobs available) (Idogho and Imonikhe, 2012; Majgaard and Mingat, 2012).

Stressors and coping among university students

Globally, it is recognized that university can be a stressful transition time for young adults (American College Health Association [ACHA], 2015; Regehr et al., 2013; Universities UK, 2015). Bojuwoye (2002: 279–280) identified five stress-related factors for South African college students: physical environment factors, university administrative framework/process factors, academic demand factors, personal psychological and social relationship factors, and financial support factors. In another study, academic work problems, orienting information, career decisions, financial pressures, and depression were identified as leading reasons for students in South Africa seeking counseling support (Bowman and Payne, 2011). A study of Zimbabwean students found the most common stressors were finances, learning resources, accommodation, food, transport, inadequate infrastructure, and instructor-related problems (Kasayira et al., 2007). Flisher et al. (2002) reported that university students in South Africa were disappointed upon entering university when the experience did not match their expectations, and that economic hardship was associated with poor academic outcomes and the likelihood of seeking counseling resources.

Psychosocial concerns have been identified among university students in other Sub-Saharan African countries. A study of Kenyan university students found a high prevalence of substance use, with a large proportion of those using substances reporting adverse effects (Atwoli et al., 2011). Additional studies in Ethiopia and Somaliland have also shown concerning rates of mental distress among university students, as well as ineffective social support systems for students (Dessie et al., 2013; Hersi et al., 2017). Ugwu et al. (2013) found a relationship between academic burnout, self-efficacy, and academic engagement among Nigerian students and emphasized the importance of ensuring that university environments promote self-efficacy. In summary, if university students do not address stress-related problems, then they are at increased risk of poor academic outcomes, dropping out, or more serious mental health issues (i.e. substance abuse, self-harm) (Bojuwoye, 2002).

Coping includes ‘cognitive and emotional attempts to deal with the internal or external demands of the countered situation’ and can involve positive strategies (i.e. seeking social support) or maladaptive strategies (i.e. substance abuse) (Deasy et al., 2014: 23). Mason (2017) applied Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) coping framework in his study on coping among South African university students; in particular, he looked at patterns of emotion-focused coping, which focuses on regulating internal states, and problem-focused coping, which focuses on managing external stressors. In addition, he discussed the importance of meaning-making, ‘the capacity to recognize order, coherence and purpose in life, as well as to set, pursue and attain goals that could result in a sense of fulfilment’, as a protective factor in managing stressful circumstances (p. 134).

Despite increased recognition of the importance of mental health and need for psychosocial support by international bodies, national governments, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), there continues to be insufficient resources to address the mental health treatment gap in low-income countries (Borba et al., 2016; Eaton et al., 2011; Levey et al., 2013). In addition, access to mental health and psychosocial support services is further constrained by low awareness of mental health needs and stigma attached to mental illness found in many low-income countries (Andoh-Arthur et al., 2015; World Health Organization [WHO], 2012).

In summary, while scholars have advocated for the promotion of higher education as a means of economic growth and personal empowerment, there is limited research on the experiences of Sub-Saharan African university students (Bowman and Payne, 2011), with much research focused on South African students and no research specifically on the experiences of Sierra Leonean university students. Furthermore, these studies have not taken a social work perspective by looking at the problem on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. The present study was undertaken to allow the voices of Sierra Leonean students to be documented and to serve as a catalyst for social work action.

Methodology

This study served as an exploratory study using a participatory methodology (Kidd and Kral, 2005), wherein Sierra Leonean university students served as co-researchers and assisted in all aspects of the research study, including co-authoring this article. Since there is no existing research on this population, a qualitative study was deemed appropriate in understanding the subjective experiences of Sierra Leonean university students of the stressors they experienced and the coping strategies they deployed. In ensuring research ethical standards were maintained, the Aurora University Institutional Review Board (Reference no. 349) approved this study.

Sample and collection

In total, 40 male and 40 female Sierra Leonean university students (aged 18–24) participated in 30-minute interviews with research assistants (RAs) during the 2013–2014 academic year. A purposive sample was used to ensure an equal gender mix and an equal representation of students from the three public colleges of the University of Sierra Leone (Fourah Bay College, the Institute of Public Administration and Management, and the College of Medicine and Allied Health Services); recruitment strategies included public advertisement and snowball sampling. Interviews were conducted in private rooms at the colleges. RAs explained their rights as a research participant, and participants signed an informed consent. Participants were compensated for their time in participating in the study.

The interview was semi-structured and conducted one-on-one using a topic guide that covered each participant’s educational trajectory, current stressors, and coping strategies. The interview protocol was adapted after an initial analysis of the first 10 interviews. We added five questions targeting specific points of inquiry that emerged from this data set, including the perception of the quality of the student’s education, specific coping strategies, and a question asking the interviewee to give advice to other students.

Transcription and analysis

The interviews were transcribed by the RAs and analyzed using NVivo qualitative analysis software. Data were subjected to thematic analysis (TA) for commonly recurring themes (Boyatzis, 1998). In order to improve the trustworthiness of the analysis, the lead researcher and the RAs read the interviews together line-by-line and developed a coding scheme to represent core themes present in the data (Miles and Hubberman, 1994). After an initial round of coding, the coding scheme was reevaluated to prevent redundancy and to clearly delineate each code.

Results

The research participants were asked to describe what currently causes the most stress in their lives. The most common responses were academic stress, financial stress, and family problems (see Table 1). When describing stress associated with their academic pursuits (N = 55), the students discussed their academic workload, pressure to obtain good grades, and perceived lack of support from lecturers (i.e. lectures not being punctual to classes, not preparing them adequately for exams).

Table 1.

Most common sources of stress.

Category	N^a	Example
Academic stress	55	‘Presently the university causes stress for me. For instance, some lecturers are not lecturing and some of our modules are too broad and it is very difficult for students to read and understand those modules without the help of the lecturers.’ ‘Well the university stress, is my primary source of stress, thinking about transportation problem, doing assignments when the materials are not there, is all stressful. Also thinking about coming for lectures every day, the whole of the day is not easy at all.’ ‘Well, what currently causes stress in my life is my education, more so the system is so stressful and frustrating. The management is poor and always delay in anything they do, even publishing of exam grades and pass list is always delayed here hence some students are finding it difficult to cope with situation.’
Financial stress	32	‘Lack of finances is really stressing me. I have to cater for myself in my academics … wherein my mother who is a petty trader has been the sole provider for my needs.’ ‘Financial issues especially when I am broke and don’t have money for transportation to go for lectures I will be stressed seriously.’ ‘Without finance, nothing goes on well academically due to the fact that you have to pay fees, buy study materials, and do research, and all of these require finances.’
Family	18	‘I need to take care of my parents and my younger ones, so thinking of this responsibility is stressful for me … I was living with my uncle before entering the university and I had a clash with his wife. My uncle threw me out of the house and I was thinking, “How could I stand this? Where could I find money to go to the university?” I pleaded with my uncle but he refused.’ ‘I come from a poor family and it is challenging for me to go to the university and now my family members are looking up to me.’ ‘As a mature girl, I get stress from my current relationship and my mum is sick, that is really stressing me up.’

Frequencies of themes are noted to show the number of times each theme was observed in the course of the interviews and to identify patterns that would not be apparent with unquantified qualitative data. However, the frequencies do not accurately represent the breadth of participants’ experiences and beliefs and likely underrepresent the prevalence of the themes. The participants were not consistently asked the same questions due to the evolution of the interview protocol over the course of interviews, individual approaches used by different interviewers, and different probing questions based on participants’ experiences.

Table 2.

What are the biggest problems facing university students?

Category	N	Example
Lack of financial support	50	‘Financial difficulties are the biggest problem. Sometimes you will be given assignment or presentations and you may not have the money to do printing and so on and the lecturer may need it on time, and if you fail to submit you may miss the allocated grade.’
Lack of accommodation	23	‘One is the accommodation problem; there are some students who come all the way from the provinces and they don’t have family here in Freetown, so they go through struggles in finding accommodation, closer to the college.’
Lack of transportation	16	‘We lack transportation we have to queue up on very, very, long queue for hours to get taxi to come for lecture, and sometimes we are late for classes and that is bad for us.’
Lack of learning materials	12	‘There is another big problem with inadequate materials as they are not available in the library and or laboratories, which I think they should try and improve on that.’
Sexual harassment	11	‘Sexual harassment of girls by lecturers is a major problem. Lecturers are harassing female students in exchange for good grades. The girls normally sleep with lecturers to get good grades while those other students that are studying their notes get lower grades.’
Peer influence	10	‘Some students believed that when they come to Fourah Bay College, they should be socializing with peer groups and forget what they are there to do.’
Student mind-set	7	‘For me the biggest problem for us students is the lack of commitment and devotion to our studies. Students should be devoted to their courses and they should not only cast the blame on lecturers or administrators, sometimes the blame lie on us. Students may not study except when there is an exam.’
The quality of lecturers	6	‘The lecturers are the biggest problem for students in this university. They are not lecturing us as they supposed to be lecturing, and even today we have a lecture but the lecturer is not around that is why you met me around here.’
Inadequate toilets	6	‘Also water facility is a problem here as some people, when they want to ease themselves, they will go to the bush as there are no toilet facility.’
Lack of emotional (family) support	4	‘Emotional support from family and financial support continues to be one of the major problems of students.’
Lack of technology	3	‘Students are facing lots of problems, but let me start with the IT section, it would surprise you to know that university students have little knowledge about IT, no knowledge about how to access it, use it, and now we are having lecturers asking to do our assignments via email, typing it, and guess what many people don’t know how to go about it.’
Bribery	3	‘Again this issue of bribery, wherein lecturers are now demanding money from students for grades this really killing the quality of education we as students supposed to have from our colleges/university as many students are buying grades instead of working hard for them and they cannot even speak simple English, they are in the honours class doing what?’
Curriculum	2	‘One big problem is that students are being offered with many modules of which some of them are not useful to them at all.’
Access to water	1	‘There is no water supply here, we only have to buy packet water and when these packet water are brought up here to sell to us, their prices are increase.’
Guidance and counseling	1	‘Another problem is we lack proper and good orientation. Students don’t have advisors on their course area and what and what not to do regarding their academic work.’
No student union	1	‘Students are facing problems with the administration because there is no student union body to advocate for students to the administration.’

The second most common response involved financial stress (N = 32), wherein the students described challenges in meeting their financial responsibilities in paying for university. The students discussed anxiety around not being able to take final examinations because they had not paid school fees; one student said, ‘The [university administration] will publicly take you out of your examination and shame you if you have not paid fees’. Students met these challenges by engaging in petty trading outside of school (sometimes only getting 4–5 hours of sleep a night), not completing assignments that require Internet research and therefore having to accept a lower grade, walking long distances to go to class, and going without food for the school day.

The third most common stressor reported was family (N = 18). Students described depending on tenuous relationships with extended family members to help pay for their education, health problems of immediate family members, and feelings of responsibility to financially take care of their families.

Beyond these three categories, the students also reported stress associated with friends and dating, anxiety about the future (‘My academic work and thinking about the kind of education I am receiving, I worry “will I get a job?” So this really stresses me’), and health concerns.

Table 1 provides a comprehensive list of the biggest challenges experienced by students based on the frequency of response. The challenges are grouped into three categories: personal challenges, university resources, and issues with instructors. Personal challenges included financial challenges, ability to access transportation, student mind-set, peer pressure, and lack of emotional support.

University resources included lack of accommodation, lack of learning materials, lack of technology, no student union, lack of guidance/counseling, lack of water, and inadequate toilets. Students also struggled with finding housing due to the unavailability of hostels for Sierra Leonean students (Margai, 2016). These students had a persistent concern of facing homelessness and sometimes had to engage in exploitative relationships with individuals who provided them housing. Since students were unable to live on campus, students who lived far from campus reported they were forced to miss classes at times because they could not pay for transportation expenses. The students had trouble not only paying for transportation but also accessing it. They described having to ‘fight for a seat’ on vehicles to get to campus; for those at Fourah Bay College, they described a long queue to get into a taxi to go up a mountain to get to campus. Students described the challenges of not having access to learning materials, reporting that the books in their libraries are often outdated and in poor condition and that they do not have access to academic journals.

Issues with instructors included sexual harassment, bribery, quality of curriculum, and quality of instructors. Students described problematic behaviors by some of their lecturers, including female students facing sexual harassment from some male lecturers and other students being bribed by lecturers in order to pass courses. The students stated that there were no trusted protective mechanisms within the university via which to report inappropriate treatment by the faculty. One student said, ‘If you tell the Head of the Department about the bribery, you will be outcast among all the faculty and they will all fail you. I try to keep my professor happy so I can pass’. It is noteworthy that RAs reported that participants were hesitant to trust the confidentiality of their interview and disclose maltreatment by the faculty because they feared retribution, so we suspect that faculty misconduct was underreported.

In another question, students were asked to evaluate the quality of their education and their responses gave greater details in terms of their concerns about university resources and the education they are receiving. This question was asked based on previous research that showed that university students were disappointed with their university experience upon starting classes (Flisher et al., 2002). Responses were coded into two categories: substandard (students described their education as ‘poor’ or ‘not up to standard’) and average/mixed (students show ambivalence about their education, recognizing positive aspects of their education). Results are presented in Table 3.

Table 3.

Quality of university education.

Category	N	Example
Substandard	40	‘There are some lapses compared to other universities in the sub region. We need infrastructural development; we need to grind up with the world in terms of technology. The lack of technological advancement to enhance a better learning environment, and the overcrowded classrooms hinder the standard of the university.’ ‘Academically we are struggling as compared to other universities in West Africa. FBC once being the Athens of West Africa, I think we should have been far ahead academically but we are down there struggling with academic work. We have lecturers that took advantage of us at times, they prefer to be busy with their private work and instead they will just send students in the final year to lecture us, which is not proper.’ ‘That sounds funny, because when we watch movies, we see that we are far behind, even when we watch like Ghana, we see that they have laptops, white boards, lots of things to educate, whereas here we sit in the sun to learn, and the worst part of it, the college doesn’t have hostels and this is killing us. The quality here is not good, and is not something to write home about.’
Average/mixed	31	‘Well, the quality is not like the European standard, but it is good for Sierra Leone levels, as for my department, the lecturers are good as they make you do the work.’ ‘There is a quality education up here, for me it all depends on the effort of the individual, if you know what you come up here for, then you would get it but if you decide to involve in other thing, then you would not get what you want.’

Students were asked what advice they would give to someone to help them cope with challenges. Two key themes emerged and are presented in Table 4: perseverance (a personal mind-set toward goals) and faith (belief in a higher being).

Table 4.

What advice would you give to someone facing challenges?

Category	N	Example
Perseverance	33	‘I will advise that person that a failure is not a person who actually failed to succeed, but a person who failed and never had the courage to try again. So I will inspire that person just as my friends did to be courageous, hardworking and try again.’ ‘He should be patient because one should not rush with life, when your time comes you will surely make it.’ ‘I will say, life is not a bed of roses, even when it rains the sun disappear, so I will advise the person that whenever you are faced with difficult situation, don’t flip out, just believe that there is something great in you that you yourself would not know until you are faced with a challenge, so when you are faced with a difficulty just put yourself together and don’t over act.’
Faith	18	‘That person should be focused on God and believe that whatever happens God will take control.’‘First I tell the person to accept life and you have to expect the unexpected. I will also advise the person, if you are a Muslim or Christian, to pray to God and let go of the person who hurt you and have your inner peace.’

Students were asked their specific coping strategies in dealing with stress associated with being a university student (see Table 5). The most common coping strategy (N = 51) that emerged was to ‘stay quiet’, which was identified when students explicitly described avoiding or ignoring feelings and often involved isolating themselves. The RAs described ‘being quiet’ or ‘going to sleep’ as being a common response when students are disgruntled because many students are distrustful and hesitant to be open with family members and peers. The second most common response (N = 50) was seeking external help; respondents were often specific regarding who they can trust, did not report a large support network, and often used the ‘being quiet’ strategy as well depending on the situation. Other strategies used included turning toward God (N = 20), engaging in recreation (N = 9), listening to music (N = 6), and ‘encouraging myself’ (N = 6).

Table 5.

Handling difficult feelings/stress.

Category	N	Example
Stay quiet	51	‘One of the mechanisms I have been using during my university education is to try and forget about things and try to be positive in all aspects.’ ‘When I am sad the only thing I do is to be lonely. Stay quiet and being lonely is the best option for me.’ ‘Normally, when I feel such difficult feelings, I keep quiet and stay alone as I do not want people to come closer.’
External help	50	‘I prefer to be around friends because through interaction with them I will be okay, and sometimes I will be lonely at home to calm myself down.’ ‘No man is an island, although sometimes I try to be this kind of strong headed person, trying to be independent, but I seek help from people around.’ ‘Yes I normally seek help from my pastor who usually gives me counseling sessions to help me overcome stress and some other difficulties.’
God	20	‘Generally, I cope by putting my trust in God (Allah) to help me overcome sadness.’ ‘I will put my case to God and believe that He gave me that problem and He can solve it also. At times the sadness will be in my heart but with time I will just look at the positive and put the negative thought aside and move on with my life.’ ‘When I am stressed, to be honest I normally don’t laugh, I normally read the Holy Bible as there are some verses in the Bible that normally give me courage when I am stress.’
Engage in recreation	9	‘I will go out to watch football matches or movies with my colleagues.’ ‘Sometimes I mingle with friends, play PlayStation games and I am okay.’ ‘Whenever I am sad there is one thing that gives me happiness which is my book. I just read my books and am okay.’
Music	6	‘Well sometimes if I am sad I just listen to cool music especially gospel songs, as they cool me down and make me realize that I have a maker who takes my burden and wipe away tears.’ ‘When I am sad I love listening to music which makes me happy. I will just switch on my music player listen to music and go to sleep.’
Encourage myself	6	‘I am always my instructor and I teach myself to overcome stress through hope and perseverance … I always try to encourage myself and look at those less fortunate than me to develop faith in myself.’ ‘In the first instance for me I believe that when you have problems you should be the first to encourage yourself so if other people try to help you then that would be an added advantage to you … I believe in this slogan “help yourself”.’ ‘I smile so that I would not feel so sad or depressed, and I get over it.’

Discussion

Our findings show that nearly all of the students interviewed face repeated, many times profound, stressors as they pursued their higher education. One student summarized the experience of many of the research participants: ‘I can’t put my guard down to focus on my studies. I always have worries about money or how my lecturers might mistreat me.’ Many of the stressors reported were in line with other studies of stress among African university students (Bojuwoye, 2002; Kasayira et al., 2007), and reports of corruption and misconduct among lecturers confirm other reports (Mohamedbhai, 2015; Transparency International, 2013). Our study sheds light on how students navigate complex external stressors – not allowing poverty, inadequate university resources, or corrupt instructors to prevent them from achieving their dreams of higher education.

Despite these stressors, the students were able to describe their strategies for coping and show a profound resilience. Because many of the stressors were currently immutable (i.e. poverty, lack of protective structures to deal with corrupt lecturers), students often described a reliance on emotion-focused coping strategies (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984). Students who described their strategy of ‘keeping quiet’ tried to distract themselves (‘forget about things’; ‘I listen to music after a stressful day’) or positively reframe their situation (‘I try to be positive in all aspects’). Students spoke about this intentional effort at staying positive frequently (‘I teach myself to overcome stress through hope and perseverance’) and the importance of their faith in keeping hope.

Students generally felt their external circumstances were outside of their control and therefore that they were limited in their ability to engage in problem-focused coping strategies (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984). None of the 80 participants discussed bringing up concerns about corruption, maltreatment of students, or inadequate university facilities to the faculty or university administration because they experienced limited agency in being able to influence them. Students who could not access and/or did not trust the legal or administrative structures to protect them were unwilling to give up their dream of higher education and relied on emotion-focused strategies. We did, however, see the students go to extreme lengths to problem-solve around financial concerns, including turning to family and friends for assistance, walking long distances to avoid transport costs, and working long hours in low-paying jobs.

Given our findings, social workers are in a unique position to take a holistic perspective on improving access to quality higher education for Sub-Saharan African students. We can support students in coping with and problem-solving around daily stressors, while we vigorously advocate for protective structures within higher education institutions to address rights violations and for resources that will enable students to access an education that will make them competitive in the global marketplace.

Implications for social work practice

As government agencies and international NGOs consider how to promote tertiary education in developing countries, we propose the following recommendations on the micro, organizational, and policy levels to minimize stressors and maximize resources to promote healthy coping among university students.

Micro-level interventions

We recognize that the stressors experienced by students are not of a normal psychological nature, and therefore where possible it is critical to connect students with available resources, including financial assistance, psychological treatment to address experiences of sexual harassment and abuse, and organizations that provide legal action against criminal faculty members. However, the reality of the situation is that these resources are limited, or unavailable, in the Sierra Leonean context – making advocacy on the organizational and policy levels all the more critical.

While advocating for systemic changes, social workers can provide psychosocial support for students. Due to stressors, university students are often unable to focus on their academics; instead, they worry about daily survival, meeting the demands of their lecturers, and pressure from their families. It becomes particularly important for the social worker to parse out which stressors are within the student’s sphere of control and can be changed. For those outside of the student’s control, it will be critical for social workers to engage in safety planning if there is a threat, such as students being sexually victimized by their instructors.

The need for psychosocial support is further compounded by the fact that many students reported distrust in seeking help from others, especially peers and family members. Social workers could promote trust and mutual support through the use of group interventions, provide individual counseling to students, and/or connect students with other resources, such as mentors in the community. Furthermore, psychoeducation interventions can be used to help students gain concrete coping skills. Social workers can draw from cognitive, behavioral, and mindfulness approaches that have been shown to be effective with university students (Regehr et al., 2013) and adapt them to the cultural context of Sierra Leone.

Institutional-level interventions

University procedures and policies, including allocating resources to student support services, can be implemented to minimize the stress of students and promote coping. Social workers could provide support within the university to develop mechanisms to identify and support students experiencing exploitation, including sexual harassment and bribery, within the university. Advocates need to ensure that students’ rights are being upheld and that there are accountability mechanisms in place to protect vulnerable students.

While financial resources are limited at universities in developing countries, social workers have the opportunity to propose innovative solutions. For instance, universities could potentially leverage technology, such as low-cost tablets, to connect students with academic resources. Social workers also have the opportunity to advocate for access to academic materials by connecting universities with open-source textbooks and journals.

Macro-level interventions

National and international policies can be developed to promote the well-being and academic development of university students. At the macro level, social workers need to establish student-centric policies that will hold universities accountable for upholding the rights of their students. There is also the opportunity for social workers to advocate for prioritization of access and quality of higher education when governments and NGOs are determining their budgets.

NGOs and other international bodies can develop and provide technical materials for universities working to improve education and resources to students. Drawing from the WHO (2012) guidance on developing mental health systems and the World Bank (2009) guidance on tertiary education, these interventions could include (1) the development of international guidelines/programmatic documents to coordinate and inform action planning on higher education; (2) the creation of a recommended set of indicators to monitor and assess outcomes to support the dissemination of best practices and ensure effective and efficient deployment of resources; (3) the identification of opportunities for collaborative, multidisciplinary work among international players in higher education; (4) advocacy for quality-based accreditation requirements and monitoring; and (5) the capacity-building of university faculty with best practices in teaching and student support.

Research limitations

The first limitation of the study is the sample, as all participants were voluntarily interviewed and not randomly selected. Some potential research participants were reluctant to participate in this study because they feared negative repercussions from university officials if they gave negative feedback. Furthermore, important variables that could be associated with stress, such as socioeconomic status, gender-specific experiences, and quality of primary/secondary school education, were not considered in reporting the data. The interview protocol changed after the initial 10 interviews, so not all participants answered the same questions.

The results in the tables showed the frequency of identification of certain themes. These frequencies are likely underrepresented as participants were asked open-ended questions and therefore may not have mentioned all themes that are relevant to them. Future studies could take a quantitative approach to identifying stressors and coping strategies to gain a more accurate picture of frequencies of these variables.

Conclusion

The 2009 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Conference on Higher Education reinforced the message that ‘the University can no longer be seen uniquely as an institution for personal development – in today’s globalized era, personal intellectual advancement must go hand in hand with broader goals of sustainable development, poverty reduction, peace, and human rights’ (as cited in Renn et al., 2014: 278). Social workers have the opportunity to take a holistic, systems approach to developing an ecosystem that truly promotes and nurtures the higher education of vulnerable students in developing countries. Promoting access to education is not sufficient. Every day, vulnerable university students are still at risk of human rights violations, including sexual harassment, monetary exploitation, and deprivation of a quality education. The profession of social work must take action in order to (1) provide students with the psychosocial support they need to deal with university and familial challenges, (2) advocate for institutional-level policies and accountability structures within universities to ensure human rights are being maintained and a quality education is being provided, and (3) influence policies that are student-centric and promote social and economic development through higher education.

Footnotes

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author biographies

Jeff Bulanda is currently a Senior Program Manager with Amazon Web Services. Prior to this role, he gained 15 years experience as a social worker and professor, including serving as a Fulbright Scholar in Sierra Leone in 2013-2014.

Abdulai Conteh is an African Leaders of Tomorrow scholar and a Mandela Washington fellow in public management. He holds a bachelor degree in Social Work from Fourah Bay College, and he is a Master of Public Administration candidate at the University of Regina, Canada.

Fatmata Jalloh has served as an advocate for girls’ education with Girl Child Education Advocacy Networks, EducAid Sierra Leone, and ActionAid Sierra Leone as well as a research assistant with the University of Sierra Leone. She holds a bachelor degree in Social Work from Fourah Bay College.

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