Gender Difference on Academic Workload and Committed Relationships Mallory Van Lin and Amanda Barnes, Advisor: Susan Wolfgram Research Problem In today's college environment, it is important that students get the resources that they need to help ease their experience. One of those resources is ways to cope with the multiple roles that students endure (White & Klein, 2008). Two specific roles that a student can experience role strain in are the roles of college student and of a partner in a committed relationship. Research Question & Hypothesis What is the difference between male and female students in terms of how their academic workloads affect their committed relationships? The researchers predicted that there will be a difference in gender on how academic workload affects committed relationships. It was hypothesized that academic workload would have more of an effect on females in committed relationships than males, because females are generally more oriented towards emotion, the affective domain. This hypothesis was informed by the literature. Purposes of the Study 1) To investigate the relationship between gender and the effects of academic workload on committed relationships. 2) To develop a reliable survey instrument to measure how male and female college students are affected by academic workload in committed relationships. 3) To collect data to provide college counselors with the information to help college students deal with academic workload and being in a committed relationship. Literature Review Most recent literature was reviewed in order to discover the differences between male and female students in terms of how their academic workloads affect their committed relationships. The amount of recent research on the effects of academic workload on committed relationships was limited, and none was found that compared males and females. The majority of literature found focused on academic workload and its effects on students’ coping and stress. Theoretical Framework Symbolic Interaction Theory (Strong, DeVault, & Cohen, 2005) The Symbolic Interaction Theory focuses on how people interact with one another, as well as the aspect of social roles within the context of those interactions. As applied to the study: The Symbolic Interaction Theory would predict that students in committed relationships would have specific roles within their relationship, such as being a college student and being a partner in a relationship; within holding these multiple roles, the possibility of role strain could occur. Methods I Participants 32 male and 86 female college students from a university in northwestern Wisconsin Research Design Non-random pilot study, cross sectional, purposive sampling design Data collection Instrument IRB approved, informed by literature & theory, implied consent Self administered surveys with one independent variable, five demographic, and eight closed ended questions based on the Lickert Scale. Procedure: Administered questionnaires to male and female college students in general education courses, with explained implied consent and confidentiality. Data Analysis Plan: Cleaned & coded surveys, analyzed data using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), using frequencies, cross- tabulations, mean-comparisons, independent t-tests, and a reliability analysis: Cronbach’s Alpha. Methods II Independent Variable GEN (Gender) Dependent Variables CRD (My credit load impacts my time with my partner) TEN (The stress of my academic workload adds tension to my relationship) COP (My partner helps me cope with the stress of my academic workload) SUP (My partner is supportive of my academic aspirations) NEG (I feel neglected when my partner chooses to do homework rather than spend time with me) CHS (I feel as though I need to choose between my academics and my partner) SUC (My academic success is more important than my relationship with my partner) BAL (I find it stressful balancing between being in a committed relationship and being a college student) Results Hypothesis: academic workload would have more of an effect on females in committed relationships than males. The hypothesis was not supported in that the independent T-Tests revealed no statistically significant mean differences between the genders. Reliability Analysis: Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability measures reliability and survey items measured Implications for Practitioners The results demonstrate that practitioners such as college counselors and advisors need to avoid the assumption that there will be differences and need to realize the similarities that may occur with academic workload and committed relationships for both males and females. Implications for Future Researchers The researchers recommend that if this study were to be replicated that it would be beneficial to use a large and random national sample of males and females. The researchers also recommend considering that students who are in long distance relationships may be affected differently than students who are not, and that some partners of the participants may not be students or may not be in secondary schooling. Conclusion This study revealed that gender may not be a factor to determine how students are affected when dealing with academic workload and committed relationships in college. More importantly, the results of this study demonstrated that there is no significant difference in gender between academic workload and committed relationships, meaning that both males and females may experience the same stressors and share the same values in being in a committed relationship while in college. These findings weaken the notion of gender biases and promote the idea of equality. University of Wisconsin-Stout