Gender and Mental Health in Postgraduate Studies

Preliminary Discussions of the Informational Pathologies Project in Higher Education

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of mental disorders among graduate students has prompted multidisciplinary investigations aimed at understanding the factors involved in this phenomenon. Among emerging aspects, informational anxiety—understood as the feeling of overload caused by the volume, complexity, and demands of information processing—has gained prominence in contemporary discussions within the field of Information Science (IS). Additionally, gender dynamics in academic trajectories represent a key variable that influences access to and use of information, potentially affecting students’ mental health. This article aims to explore the interrelations between gender, mental health in graduate studies, and informational anxiety, with the objective of understanding how these dimensions affect the academic experience of graduate students, especially women. Based on partial results from the ongoing research, it is inferred that informational anxiety is increasing in graduate programs, particularly impacting women. Support policies should consider gender, mental health, and informational behavior, and promote more humanized and welcoming institutional practices. This study is supported by the Research Group "Laboratory of Practices in Psychology and Information Science" (LAPCI), affiliated with the Institute of Information Science at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Brazil.