Emotional Exhaustion and Engagement in Higher Education Students during a Crisis, Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Experience in Italian Universities

Italian university students face an uncertain future characterised by a competitive neoliberal academic environment with high demands and a weak labour market that often cannot hire those who are best qualified. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated students' uncertainty and negatively affected their well-being. The purpose of this study is to explore perceptions of academic life during the pandemic and to examine the relationship between study load, reduced academic performance, internet addiction, academic self-efficacy, and engagement and emotional exhaustion. A sample of university students (N = 10,298) from 11 Italian universities completed a self-report questionnaire about their academic and personal lives between May and June 2021. We performed two multiple linear regressions and one ANOVA to highlight gender differences. Results indicate that female students reported lower levels of engagement and academic self-efficacy, and higher levels of exhaustion and study demands compared to male students, while older students generally appear to exhibit higher levels of well-being. Study load, reduced academic performance, and internet addiction showed a negative association with engagement, particularly the first two, and a positive association with exhaustion, while self-efficacy was positively associated with engagement and negatively associated with exhaustion. The results suggest the need to introduce additional forms of support, such as psychological support, internet addiction awareness courses or counseling services.

Automated summary

Italian university students face an uncertain future characterized by a competitive neoliberal academic environment and a weak labor market. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened their uncertainty and impacted their well-being negatively. This study explores perceptions of academic life during the pandemic and examines the relationship between study load, reduced academic performance, internet addiction, academic self-efficacy, and engagement and emotional exhaustion. Results show gender differences, with female students reporting lower engagement and self-efficacy, and higher exhaustion and study demands compared to male students. Older students generally exhibit higher levels of well-being. Study load, reduced academic performance, and internet addiction are negatively associated with engagement and positively associated with exhaustion, while self-efficacy is positively associated with engagement and negatively associated with exhaustion. The findings highlight the need for additional support, such as psychological support, internet addiction awareness courses, or counseling services.