International student trauma during COVID-19: Relationships among mental health, visa status, and institutional support.

Objective: This study explored the predictive relationship among international student trauma responses, visa status anxiety, and perceived institutional support. Researchers also sought to understand the relationship between help seeking behaviors and trauma exposure responses. Participants: International students (n = 172) from U.S. colleges and universities enrolled since March 2020. Methods: Data were collected via an electronic survey administered during the fall 2020 academic term. Results: The model was found to be significant, explaining 67% of the variance of student trauma responses. Anxiety surrounding students' ability to stay in the U.S. was found to be the greatest contributor to the model. Additionally, particular clusters of trauma symptomatology were significantly correlated with help seeking from specific individuals within student networks. Finally, students reported moderate levels of mental health help seeking behaviors, with friends and family being the most likely sources sought out for help. Conclusions: Despite focus on students' health and wellness concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, visa policy uncertainty was a primary driver of self-reported trauma symptomatology at the onset of the pandemic.

Health occupations salary outcomes: intersections of student race, gender, and first-generation status.

Greater diversity in the healthcare workforce has been identified as a critical need in serving an increasingly diverse population. Higher education institutions have been tasked with increasing the number of underrepresented students in the health occupations pipeline to better align with the demographics of the general population and meet the need for a diverse health occupations workforce. This study used the National Science Foundation's National Survey of College Graduates dataset to capture data across time, examining the intersectionality of race, gender, and first-generation status on the salary outcomes of students who earn degrees related to health occupations. Results indicate that the intersecting identities of students who earn a bachelor's degree or higher in the health professions impact salary outcomes. Results of this study have implications for higher education policies that can impact increased diversity in the health occupations workforce pipeline.

Exploring the impacts of learning modality changes: Validation of the learning modality change community of inquiry and self-efficacy scales.

The rapid learning environment transition initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students' perception of, comfort with, and self-efficacy in the online learning environment. Garrison's Community of Inquiry framework provides a lens for examining students' online learning experiences through three interdependent elements: social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence. Researchers in this study developed and validated the Learning Modality Change Community of Inquiry and Self-Efficacy scales to measure health professions students' self-efficacy with online learning, while exploring how cognitive, social, and teaching presence is experienced by students who transition from one learning environment to another. The two scales demonstrate strong validity and reliability evidence and can be used by educators to explore the impacts of learning modality changes on student learning experiences. As learning environments continue to evolve, understanding the impact of these transitions can inform how educators consider curriculum design and learning environment changes.