Finnish Researchers Say Female Students at Increased Risk of School Burnout

After evaluating 1,800 young people, a Finnish research team concluded that female students are at increased risk for experiencing school burnout.

A May 14 article on the medical news website ScienceDaily indicates that the burnout problem is both prevalent and potentially damaging to the likelihood that female students will continue their education:

Success-oriented female upper secondary school pupils are at the greatest risk: up to 20 percent of them suffer from school burnout.

"These girls are high achievers but they also develop burnout. They tend to develop feelings of inadequacy, in particular, in upper secondary school. By contrast, boys who enter upper secondary school tend to develop more of a cynical, negative stance towards school," says Professor Katariina Salmela-Aro of the University of Jyväskylä, who is in charge of the research. ...

According to Salmela-Aro, school burnout in upper secondary school tends to complicate the transition to further studies, while an enthusiasm for school tends to predict a successful transition to the next education level.

The ScienceDaily described school burnout as "a chronic school-related stress syndrome which manifests as exhaustion, cynicism about school and feelings of inadequacy," and noted that it has been associated with other serious problems, including teen depression.