Abstract
When students feel that they matter at an institution, they integrate into campus life more effectively. Using the concept of multi-layered mentoring and mattering this paper explores pedagogically sound ways of mentoring during and after a global pandemic. Mattering is also important because it can be used in “evaluating the effectiveness of university programs that claim to increase feelings of mattering and for identifying students with low feelings of mattering”. The idea of mattering is closely related to that of feeling important, with importance in this context being defined as, feeling that other people care about us and are concerned about our wellbeing. The paper discusses how mattering has a relation to the psychological stages of depression and anxiety that have increased during the pandemic. The mental states of students due to mattering is then directly related to that of academic stress, which by applying a multilayered mentoring concept while using Schlossberg’s theory of mattering demonstrates that mattering could reduce students stress and facilitate a sense of belonging in the academy.
Presenters
H. Lori SchniedersAssociate Professor, Psychology and Community Studies, University of Maine at Machias, Maine, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
2021 Special Focus—Life after Pandemic: Towards a New Global Biopolitics?
KEYWORDS
Mentoring, Mattering, Depression and Anxiety during and after the Pandemic
