This project addresses the mental health crisis in undergraduate engineering programs by characterizing the role of mental health in engineering culture as perceived by undergraduates over the course of their academic programs. Further, the project explores the role of faculty, staff, and administrators in perpetuating or dismantling the perception of a high stress culture as a necessary factor for success in engineering. The outcomes of the project will support the improvement and development of proactive interventions to support positive mental health and well-being in undergraduate engineering programs. Improving undergraduate mental health in engineering programs will improve recruitment and retention in engineering programs, which in turn addresses the national need of training engineers to address grand challenges. The results of the project will also raise awareness of undergraduate mental health in engineering programs by facilitating discussions among faculty, staff, and administrators who directly impact the climate in undergraduate programs. These discussions will further serve to increase the adoption of research-based practices and interventions to support mental health and promote student well-being.
The integrated research and education plan supports the development of a culture of well-being in engineering undergraduate programs. Though culture and perceived norms have critical recruitment and retention implications, no research has examined the role of a high-stress culture, particularly for underrepresented students who may already face a "chilly climate" or "climate of intimidation". The project addresses this knowledge gap using a mixed methods design to connect factors within the control of educators to outcomes seemingly out of control (mental health). The project studies engineering culture through the lens of social identity theory to identify key factors in how the high-stress culture evolves through a longitudinal study that identifies student stressors and coping mechanisms. The results of the longitudinal study will identify patterns in student responses to this culture, which will be further analyzed by qualitative interviews with students from different groups. Further, the project will identify coping mechanisms utilized by students who resist the notion of a high stress culture, which will inform proactive trainings to promote student well-being. Understanding how students positively cope and thrive in engineering programs will inform proactive trainings and early interventions to promote mental wellness instead of reactive, deficit-based approaches. Building communities both locally and nationally will raise awareness of mental health in engineering, emphasize the need to develop positive culture, and promote wider implementations of research-based practices to support student well-being.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
