In honor of graduation, I spoke with graduating Economics and BLP major Shirley Mazsltov-Ast about her senior thesis. Her thesis examined the effects of depression on job satisfaction. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of the Bureau of Labor Statistics she explored the correlation between one’s reported depression and job satisfaction. Her findings indicate that there is a significant correlation between mental health and job satisfaction, with individuals who reported being “depressed” and “down or blue” being less satisfied with their jobs.
Shirley hopes that when reading her thesis people leave with one major takeaway “mental health matters” and it affects your productivity, so organizations, as well as individuals, should be valuing and taking care of their mental health. Shirley expressed that with growing awareness and openness surrounding mental health in America, updated research is needed in the professional health setting.
Shirley graciously offered the following advice to economic students as they approach their thesis:
- Start your work early and pace yourself
- Remember that the hardest part is just getting started, so don’t give up
- Follow the deadlines to make the workload more manageable
- And most importantly, make sure you have enough data available for your topic
Congratulations to Shirley and to all the economic students graduating this weekend!