In addition to presenting 24 recommendations for good practice (see Table 6 and Table 7), the findings strengthened the understanding of the characteristics of music students’ experienced workload. This evidence-based framework can be utilised in higher music education institutions to make informed decisions when planning optimised teaching and learning environments for music students, and to help music students overcome challenges associated with studying and resolving health issues. Furthermore, music students may find the findings helpful for reflecting on and coping in healthier ways with their workload. The findings indicated that more research using high-quality designs is needed to investigate music students’ discipline-specific experienced workload. As a response to this need for more research, the three overarching themes were further investigated in the explanatory stage of the MSW project and reported in Articles II–IV:
Article II: Music students’ ability to cope with their workload
Article III: Developing learner-centred environments in higher music education
Article IV: Tools for teachers to support music students to manage and cope with workload
journal Psychology of Music (2022).18It was hypothesised that proactive coping styles might help students deal with their study workload and stress in healthier ways.This explanatory mixed methods study involved the participation of 155 students at higher music education institutions in Finland and the United Kingdom. The article posed the following sub-questions:
How do students in higher music education in Finland and the United Kingdom experience workload and stress and use proactive coping styles?
a) What are the prevalences of music students’ experienced study workload, experienced stress, and proactive coping styles among genders, levels of degree, genre groups, and study programmes?
b) Can music students’ experienced stress be predicted by their experienced study workload and proactive coping styles?
c) What are the determinants of experienced workload, experienced stress, and proactive coping styles for music students?
In the quantitative analysis phase, frequentist statistics, including both descriptive and inferential analyses, were used. The results of the descriptive analysis showed the prevalence of music students’ experienced study workload, experienced stress, and seven proactive coping styles as differentiated by genders, levels of degree, genre groups, and study programmes. The results of the bivariate analysis (one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni correction for
I had the idea for the article as part of this dissertation to explore music students’ experiences of workload and stress in higher education. As a supervisor, Dr. Guadalupe López-Íñiguez (GLI) guided the data collection and recommended conducting a mixed methods study to acquire wider and deeper evidence on the topic. Dr. Kai Lehikoinen (KL) was the second supervisor for the article and guided the addition of students’ coping styles to the research questions. I conducted the data collection and analysis in both the quantitative and qualitative phases. GLI followed my work in the quantitative data analysis and ensured the validity and reliability of the process in the qualitative data analysis by coding a 5% selection of the entire dataset that I had previously coded. I discussed the different stages of the process with GLI and KL to make decisions collaboratively. GLI and KL actively participated in interpreting the data and drawing conclusions regarding the mixed methods synthesis. I drafted the manuscript, tables, and figures. GLI and KL critically reviewed the work. KL edited the language in the final manuscript.
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multiple comparisons) showed differences in music students’ experienced study workload, experienced stress, and seven proactive coping styles as differentiated by genders, levels of degree, genre groups, and study programmes. To show the potential prediction of music students’ experienced stress by their experienced study workload and each of the seven proactive coping styles, Pearson’s correlation analysis was performed. In addition, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed to predict music students’ experienced stress based on their experienced study workload and seven proactive coping styles. The results of the quantitative analysis are presented in Table 8.
Table 8. Results of the quantitative analysis phase in Article II
Methods Analyses Statistically significant results One-way ANOVA
and Bonferroni correction
Differences in experienced study workload based on genders, levels of degree, genre groups, and study programmes
Students in the music education genre group experienced more study workload than students in the classical music genre group. Students in the church music study programmes experienced more study workload than students in the classical piano study programmes. (There were no
statistically significant differences between groups in study workload based on genders, and in study workload based on levels of degree.)
One-way ANOVA and Bonferroni correction
Differences in experienced stress based on genders, levels of degree, genre groups, and study programmes
Female music students experienced more stress than male music students. Students in other genres group (i.e., other than the music education genre group and classical music genre group) experienced more stress than students in the classical music genre group. Students in the doctoral study programmes and composition study programmes experienced more stress than students in the classical piano study
programmes. (There were no statistically significant differences between groups in stress based on levels of degree.)
One-way ANOVA and Bonferroni correction
Differences in the use of seven proactive coping styles based on genders, levels of degree, genre groups, and study programmes
Within the seven proactive coping styles, emotional support seeking was used the most, followed by preventive
coping, instrumental support seeking, proactive coping, reflective coping, strategic planning, and avoidance coping.
Male music students used proactive coping more than female music students. Non-binary gender music students used emotional support seeking less than female and male music students. (With reflective coping, strategic planning, preventive coping, instrumental support seeking,
and avoidance coping, there were no statistically significant differences between genders. With levels of degree, genre groups, and study programmes, there were no statistically significant differences between groups in using the seven proactive coping styles.)
Pearson’s
correlation Relationship between experienced stress, experienced study workload, and the seven proactive coping styles
There was a negative correlation between stress and instrumental support seeking, and between stress and emotional support seeking; using these coping styles may help reduce stress. There was also a negative correlation between study workload and proactive coping, and between study workload and reflective coping; thus, using these coping styles may help reduce study workload. (Other intercorrelations between stress and proactive coping styles, or between study workload and proactive coping styles, were not statistically significant.)
Multiple linear
regression Prediction of experienced stress by experienced study workload and the seven proactive coping styles
Study workload was a predictor of stress. Proactive coping and strategic planning negatively predicted stress; thus, using these coping styles may help reduce stress. (Reflective coping, preventive coping, emotional support seeking, instrumental support seeking, and avoidance coping were not statistically significant predictors of stress.)
In the qualitative analysis phase, thematic analysis (see the adaptation of the analytical process of transcendental phenomenology used in the MSW project in the fourth chapter) was used to identify the determinants of music students’
experienced workload, stress, and coping. The findings indicated specific concerns for music students, such as working alongside studies, that caused overload, and struggling with funding caused stress. Such situations can lead to burnout when combined with too many course selections. On the other hand, when music students are not overloaded, studying music can be a source of enjoyment. Music students have their specific ways of coping with workload and stress. For example, music students use:
• proactive coping in finding suitable approaches to learning, and in planning schedules for practising;
• reflective coping, especially with their experiences in the first years of study, in finding their individual meaning of music, and in assessment situations;
• strategic planning in time management, in selecting courses from the curriculum, and in managing pressure with competition between music students;
• preventive coping in psychological preparation for performance anxiety, in taking care of their health, and in physical exercising;
• preventive coping in psychological preparation for performance anxiety, in taking care of their health, and in physical exercising;
• instrumental support seeking in asking practical advice from teachers in one-to-one tuition and group tuition, and in finding methods and techniques for musculoskeletal problems;
• emotional support seeking in discussing their problems with peer students and study psychologists, and in successfully interacting with teachers in music lessons, which may result in the feeling of flow, and in religious or spiritual experiences; and
• avoidance coping in thinking of their musician careers in the future, in handling pressure caused by social media, and in being careful when giving honest feedback because of the fear that they can be identified from the feedback.
The integration of results and findings showed that it is essential to identify common music-specific ways for coping with studies in higher education.
Nevertheless, there are differences in experienced study workload, experienced stress, and use of proactive coping styles between different genders, between different genre groups, and between different study programmes. These differences should be discussed in higher music education institutions to find ways to better support music students as individuals in their studies, to further their well-being, and to prepare them for their future careers.
5.3 Article III: Music students’ experienced workload, livelihoods and