2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Background: This research paper extends previously reported work on engineering stress culture (ESC) in the context of project-based learning engineering programs. Our previous work, which mirrored a study conducted by Jensen and Cross on this topic, showed that students in project-based engineering programs report less stress and depression, stronger personal vision of an engineering career, more positive perceptions of department caring and diversity, and greater pride in their department compared to the student population in the original study. No statistically different effects were found for reported anxiety or engineering identity between the two populations in our previously reported work.

Purpose: Our goal is to continue the comparative replication of Jensen and Cross’s study by establishing a baseline correlation between mental health, professional identity, and perceptions of inclusion among students in entirely project-based engineering and computer science programs.

Design/Method: We gather data from students pursuing engineering and computer science degrees delivered in entirely project-based learning environments. We use the validated instrument developed by Jensen and Cross as well as methodology informed by their original study. In doing so we establish baseline correlations between mental health, professional identity, and inclusion in the context of project-based learning environments in engineering and computer science.

Results: We present results from statistical analyses reporting correlations between measures of mental health, professional identity, and perceptions of inclusion among students working towards undergraduate engineering degrees in project-based learning environments. We compare these correlations with those found in the original Jensen and Cross study. Our results show that although students in our project-based programs experience less stress and depression overall than the population studied by Jensen and Cross, there is a significant difference in correlation between these two factors, as well as between stress and anxiety when comparing the two populations. Results also indicate a significant difference in correlation between department diversity and department caring among project-based students population when compared with the Jensen and Cross population, and similarly with the correlation between engineering career and engineering identity.

Conclusions: Some correlations between mental health, engineering identity, and and department inclusion measures are significantly different in the project-based student population than in the population studied by Jensen and Cross. These results, especially when interpreted in the context of our previous work, may have implications for further research into how the structure of project-based learning programs influence these correlations and related overall outcomes.