College is normally a time for growth and self-discovery. However, for a bunch of women on campus it is also a time where the emotional labor they perform is often overlooked. Emotional labor which is the process of managing one’s emotions to meet the demands of others is a sort of concept that if increasingly being noticed in academic settings. For women who are in college emotional labor can be in a bunch of different aspects of daily life from friendships to academic responsibilities and it usually goes unrecognized. Women are most of the time known to be caregivers which makes them more likely to engage in emotional labor without even realizing it. These expectations are rooted in society and can be made worse by the pressures to do well in school, fit in socially, and grow as a person. Women are often expected to take on this responsibility more than anyone else in almost every part of their lives. Friendships in college can be very intense such as my own freshmen year. The emotional labor involved in friendships normally includes things like checking in with friends when they are feeling down and offering advice in very difficult situations. This type of emotional labor can be very draining especially when it isn’t reciprocated which is the situation I had been in all freshmen year with my roommate. Many women such as myself also find themselves non stop prioritizing the emotional needs of others even at the expense of their own. An example could be in group projects or big social gatherings where many women find themselves in positions where they are expected to mediate the conflict which most of the time goes unnoticed. These responsibilities that go unnoticed can add a bunch of emotional weight to the already extremely hard college experience. In school women are often expected to balance the academic demands with also the expectation of friendliness and being cooperative. College women who are in male-dominated fields such as STEM also are sometimes required to work harder to prove their competency. The emotional toll of nonstop having to assert their value and prove that they are capable of the same things men can do is severely draining. The burden of emotional labor when it isn’t balanced by self care can have negative impacts on mental health. I have constantly been looked at as not as competent as the men who work the same amount as me just because I am a female. An example I specifically have would be from my work place at home where I had been working around a bunch of men in a restaurant with a male boss who seemed to think of me as a little kid compared to the men around me who were the exact same age. This not only was extremely frustrating but it had made my mental health awful and I would dread going to work knowing that I was looked at as incompetent. The emotional exhaustion that ends up happening from performing this labor that is practically invisible can affect person well being and academic performance drastically. Recognizing the emotional labor that college women perform is the first step in addressing it. I believe professors and other types of campus leaders should try and recognize the emotional work involved in academic group work and students should definitely be encouraged to support each other in an equal measure. Women too need to learn to set boundaries and prioritize their mental health. College is a time of growth and exploring yourself but it should never come at the expense of ones well being.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 