Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 1 - 23

Differences by Demographics
Comparisons by demographics, however,
provide insights into whose well-being may
have been most affected by the pandemic.
While cisgender men and women reported
similar levels of social-psychological
well-being before the pandemic, women experienced
a larger decrease and reported significantly
lower levels of well-being during
the pandemic. Previous research indicates
that women are socialized to value and rely
more on social support and connectedness
than are men (Reevy & Maslach, 2001);
thus, women may have struggled particularly
during the COVID-19 pandemic due
to the social isolation resulting from safety
measures such as working from home and
social distancing (Nyunt et al., 2021). Women
are also often tasked with more household
chores and caregiving responsibilities than
are men. As these tasks became more cumbersome
during the COVID-19 pandemic,
these responsibilities may have created additional
stressors and thus negatively impacted
women's social-psychological well-being
(Lee et al., 2021; Lightfoot et al., 2021). More
research, in particular qualitative research,
is needed to understand the differences in
women's and men's social-psychological
well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic
and how that may intersect with the responsibilities
of residence life staff.
Regarding race and ethnicity, White
respondents reported a significantly larger
decrease in social-psychological well-being
during the pandemic than did their BIPOC
counterparts. Previous research on college
students similarly found that the COVID-19
pandemic had a significantly larger impact
on White students' mental health than that
of their BIPOC peers (Charles et al., 2021;
Nyunt et al., 2021). These conclusions stand
in contrast to findings about the disproportionate
impact of COVID-19 on communities
of color across the United States (The
COVID Tracking Project, 2021), which have
led to calls for increased mental health support
for these communities (Fortuna et al.,
2020; Liu & Modir, 2020). However, intersections
of socio-economic status and race/
ethnicity shape many health disparities in
the United States. Among residence life
staff, there may be fewer socio-economic disparities
than there are nationwide; thus, we
may not see such a disproportionate impact
of COVID-19 on BIPOC residence life staff.
Many possible explanations for this
finding exist. The small number of BIPOC
staff who responded may have skewed the
results, and BIPOC staff who experienced
a larger decrease in social-psychological
well-being may not have responded to this
survey. Having encountered centuries of
discrimination and systemic racism, BIPOC
staff may have developed unique strategies
and coping mechanisms that allowed them
to manage the challenges and stressors of
the COVID-19 pandemic more effectively.
A qualitative study on BIPOC college students
found that participants demonstrated
optimism, resilience, and perseverance,
which allowed them to overcome some of
the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic
(Burt & Eubank, 2021). Finally, it is important
to acknowledge that this study grouped
all non-White respondents into one category,
thus obscuring differences by racial or
ethnic group. More research is needed to
understand how race and ethnicity influence
residence life staff's experiences during the
COVID-19 pandemic and why certain racial
or ethnic groups may report higher levels of
social-psychological well-being.
Differences by Position Type and
Housing Arrangement
Comparisons by type of position highlighted
entry-level staff's lower levels of socialVolume
48, No. 1 * 2021
23
Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 1
