Institutional Role in the Mental Health and Well-being of Undergraduate Engineering Students: Student and Faculty Perspectives

Abstract

BackgroundMental Health and Wellbeing (MHW) has been attributed to student success in higher education. While the role of institutions of higher education in the MHW of students is generally known, to the knowledge of authors, research about how students and their faculty perceive this role in undergraduate engineering education contexts is limited. PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the institution (i.e., administration and faculty) in providing students with an overall positive experience in the college of engineering as perceived by students and their faculty. Design/MethodThis study reports on the analysis of the semi-structured interview data collected from undergraduate engineering students, and their faculty in the college of engineering at a Western land grant institution of higher education. As part of a larger project related to the MHW of undergraduate engineering students, these data were collected in response to a specific question about the institution's role in providing an overall positive student experience. Thematic Analysis of data collected from 13 interview participants (8 students and 5 faculty members) was conducted. FindingsThematic analysis resulted in three themes from student interviews addressing the need for 1) improvement in first-year student experiences, 2) delivering needed information about students' MHW and academics, and 3) improvement in the hands-on experiences of students. Resultant four themes from faculty interviews addressed: 1) effective faculty-student communication, 2) providing opportunities to increase positive academic and social experiences, 3) cognizance of students' situation, and 4) dissemination of MHWrelated information. ConclusionsInstitutions of higher education play a vital role in the overall positive experiences of engineering undergraduates to support their MHW. While engineering undergraduates and their faculty agree on the need for improved dissemination of information to students, the faculty focus is on MHW-related information and students' desire for information more broadly including information relating to courses and hands-on experiences. Both agree that institutions need to be aware of the MHW need of students.