2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Mental wellness is a challenge for students studying in engineering programs [1]. Engineering programs are often associated with high stress from the coursework and often cite a perceived culture that is inconducive towards relieving their stress [2]. In recent years mental wellness has been a rising topic on the minds of educators and legislators to learn how to better serve learning communities. Programs and initiatives are often offered but underutilized due to perceived barriers preventing students from reaching out for additional resources citing accessibility, a desire to normalize the topic in the classroom, and the pressure to perform within the classroom [1]. This study aims to promote the discussion of mental wellness in an engineering classroom and promote the use of stress reduction strategies.

This paper presents the findings of an intervention conducted in two engineering courses, one being a lower-division course and the other an upper-division course, at an R1 Institution that is classified as a minority-serving institution. The intervention was conducted in the form of one class session being canceled and students being instructed to spend that time on an activity for their mental wellness. They were also asked to describe and reflect on their “mental health hour” as part of a homework assignment This exploratory study aims to classify the different ways that students cope with the stressors they face and observe trends based on class standing and other unique identifiers such as students who identify as transfer students or students from historically minority communities.

Findings are presented through thematic analysis. A codebook was developed to classify commonalities observed within the student narratives submitted as part of an assignment for two online courses in the Fall of 2021. To bolster the study's trustworthiness, two researchers conducted inter-rater reliability tests. The focus of the analysis was placed on two different primary topics including the intervention activity and the response of the student.
Preliminary results reveal that many engineering students do not prioritize their basic needs over their studies as engineering students. Further analysis using institutional data connects student identities with challenges they face and it can be observed that socioeconomic status, being a first-generation student, and other identities, all have an impact on students’ views on mental wellness’ place in engineering [3, 4]. The information gained from this study allows us to learn how the perceived culture has a strong influence on students' views of what an engineer is.
This study aims to highlight concerns related to students’ perception of engineering and to share how students self-regulate their mental wellness. Acknowledging mental wellness is important to support the community of engineering students. We believe that a classroom-based intervention can elevate the importance of mental wellness in engineering and help support students’ mental wellness for a more supportive engineering workforce in the future.

[1] C. J. Wright et al., “Mental health in undergraduate engineering students: Identifying facilitators and barriers to seeking help,” Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 112, no. 4, pp. 963–986, 2023. doi:10.1002/jee.20551
[2] K. J. Jensen, J. F. Mirabelli, A. J. Kunze, T. E. Romanchek, and K. J. Cross, “Undergraduate student perceptions of stress and mental health in engineering culture,” International Journal of STEM Education, vol. 10, no. 1, 2023. doi:10.1186/s40594-023-00419-6
[3] G. M. Alam and Md. A. Forhad, “What makes a difference for further advancement of engineers: Socioeconomic background or education programs?,” Higher Education, vol. 83, no. 6, pp. 1259–1278, 2021. doi:10.1007/s10734-021-00741-4
[4] J. Major, A. Godwin, and G. Sonnert, “Stem experiences of engineering students from low-socioeconomic neighborhoods,” 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings. doi:10.18260/1-2--30990