Four international peer-reviewed publications, included in this dissertation, reported on and synthesised the explanatory stage of the MSW project. The results and findings presented in the articles provide recommendations for good practices for students, teachers, administrators, and student health and well- being services, as well as policy recommendations for higher music education institutions regarding how to support music students in coping with their experienced workload and stress in higher music education. In addition, the evaluation of the WSC questionnaire showed how to develop the questionnaire for the future research projects in the context of higher music education.
Students often talk about experiencing an overly heavy workload (Kyndt et al., 2014). Thus, it has been essential to investigate students’ individual workload experiences in this dissertation. Students may also benefit from learning within an evidence-based framework that can help them reflect on their workload and make changes as necessary to cope better with it. This dissertation can support informed decisions when planning learning and teaching environments to optimise students’ learning and health (Perkins et al., 2017). It may also show where efforts should be made to help students overcome challenges associated with studying and to resolve health issues (Ginsborg et al., 2009). At the same time, when looking at these critical aspects of higher education from the student’s perspective, the evidence presented in this dissertation can promote equality, equity, and justice—both in higher music education and in society more generally (Bull, 2019; Jääskeläinen, 2021). For example, the respondents mentioned in their feedback in the WSC questionnaire that this kind of research advances open discussion about music students’
burnout, thus potentially supporting students’ health in the future.
First, this dissertation provided a comprehensive literature review of the subject. This work not only informed the explanatory stage and synthesis stage of the MSW project, but can also be utilised in future research to develop more suitable support systems for music students’ workload (Article I). Pereira et al.
(2019) suggest increasing psychological support services for students in higher education to proactively support students’ resilience and well-being, which may prevent severe problems in their future life.
Second, a transcendental phenomenological approach to music students’
workload experiences was adopted. It was beneficial to understanding and supporting specific characteristics of music students’ learning (Reid, 2001), in terms of helping them cope with different and specific types of workloads in higher music education. This approach can be utilised in higher music education administration when processing student feedback, particularly open- ended answers. Such feedback should be more properly utilised, as it is a highly valuable resource. Thus, this particular methodological approach could be a way to more fully utilise such data for developmental work in higher education institutions.
Third, this dissertation’s study of music students’ coping with their study workload and stress provided statistically significant results, such as illustrating the differences between genders and study programmes (Article II). These differences should be discussed in connection with the development of curricula and higher music education systems, in order to investigate more thoroughly why these unequal differences exist and how these issues can be overcome, so that all study programmes have the appropriate workload for students. As the Exploratory Factor Analysis (Appendix 9) and participants' feedback in the WSC questionnaire showed, music students’ use of proactive coping styles also deserves further attention. The study of music has unique characteristics compared to other fields in higher education. Therefore, the proactive coping styles presented in previous research—proactive coping, reflective coping, strategic planning, preventive coping, instrumental support seeking, emotional support seeking, and avoidance coping (i.e., Greenglass, 2002)— might need adjusting to fit music students' ways of using coping strategies. The qualitative data in this dissertation has identified music students’ particular ways of coping with their studies, which were presented in the fifth chapter. These findings may serve as valuable models for students in higher music education. Coping skills can benefit students in their studies, but also in their lives overall. For example, Pardos et al. (2022) emphasise the importance of supporting students’ ability to cope with stress in their course load, but also to plan their time load in studying in a way that also allocates time to leisure activities. In addition to supporting students’ individual proactive coping skills, it might be useful to identify institutional protective factors to support music students’ ability to cope with high workload demands in line with Holloway et al. (2020), who identified, for example, positive and supportive feedback on assessments and well-structured timetables.
Fourth, the results of this dissertation (Article III) suggest that a neoliberal university culture with high tuition fees that impact students’
livelihoods alongside studying is likely to increase music students’ experienced stress, but not directly impact the experienced study workload. However, experienced stress greatly affects students’ experiences of their workload.
Therefore, it is important to foster an academic culture that encourages more
positive learning environments to meet the specific needs of music students (Papageorgi et al., 2010a). Similarly, Blackwell et al. (2020) argue that evidence on teaching conditions that increase students’ well-being experiences may be an efficient way to improve teaching and learning environments in higher music education. This knowledge may then result in practical implications for administrators and teachers. For example, institutions could organise workshops that train and encourage students to focus less on perfectionism and tradition in their musical practice and craftsmanship, and more on maintaining mental and physical sustainability for the long-term, as well as more diverse approach to finding meaningful future careers across their lifespans (Jääskeläinen, 2022b). A total of 27 codes of music students’ experienced workload in higher education were identified in the systematic literature review (Article I) and empirical data (Articles II–IV). These codes could be utilised as topics in future workshops:
1) approaches to learning, 2) assessment, 3) burnout, 4) coping, 5) competition, 6) curriculum, 7) enjoyment, 8) experiences in the first year of study, 9) flow, 10) funding, 11) health, 12) group tuition, 13) meaning of musicianship, 14) musculoskeletal problems, 15) musician career, 16) physical exercise, 17) practising, 18) religion, 19) social media, 20) stress, 21) structure of student workload, 22) student feedback, 23) teaching and learning environments, 24) time management, 25) one-to-one tuition, 26) performance anxiety, and 27) (extracurricular paid and unpaid) work.
Fifth, this dissertation has presented tools for teachers to take a constructive approach that would provide more space for learner-centredness and agency for music students (Article IV). When connected to the principles of conceptual change (in line with Vosniadou, 2013), this empirical research on student workload may support teachers’ interactions with music students.
Pardos et al. (2022) found in their recent study among higher education students that the credit hours specified by teachers are not a sufficient measure of course load. Therefore, they suggest using course workload analytics to measure the workload more accurately. Indeed, Karjalainen et al. (2008) suggest that teachers should regularly monitor and receive current feedback on students’
workload in order to further develop their teaching strategies, because an optimal workload is a prerequisite for quality learning. They suggest that the
tools for monitoring workload should not be too complicated; for example, using students’ time diaries could be a good tool for that.
As this dissertation indicates, the key to designing adequate support for students is a good understanding of the circumstances and prevalence of their methods of coping with workload and stress. As conclusions for future directions in higher music education institutions, the results and findings presented in this dissertation suggest gathering and analysing students’
experiences and using this information as a decision-making tool. This suggestion is not only to better support music students’ ability to cope, learn, sustain their well-being, and pursue future careers as musicians, but also to support the preparedness of higher music education teachers, administrators, and health and well-being services, as well as broader educational policies in higher music education and the development of more equitable and just education systems. Similarly, Brooks at al. (2022) suggest that
charting change in understandings of students is important—not only as an intellectual endeavour—but because of its implications for both policy and practice within higher education: to engage with students effectively, as a policymaker, member of HE staff, or even a member of the public, it seems critical that we comprehend their perspectives on the world, and their understandings of what it means to be a contemporary HE student. (p. 171, emphasis original)