2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This theory paper addresses the growing concern about mental health among engineering college students in the United States, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent statistics highlight a significant increase in anxiety over the past decade. For example, a study conducted during the 2022-2023 academic year found that 65.5% of the undergraduate students surveyed sought counseling services.Mental health concerns such as suicidal ideation, depression, and academic performance issues are also prominent.
Within the engineering community, these concerns are even more pressing, as high levels of anxiety among engineering students are linked to poor academic outcomes and, in extreme cases, suicidal behavior. Furthermore, engineering students are less likely to seek mental health support compared to students in other disciplines. Recent research has highlighted the lack of literature addressing the higher levels of stress and distress experienced by engineering students compared to those in non-engineering majors.

Perfectionism is a multidimensional trait that significantly influences individuals' mental health outcomes. Perfectionism is often described as a dichotomy of healthy and unhealthy manifestations. Healthy perfectionism involves striving for high standards without jeopardizing one’s well-being, while unhealthy perfectionism endangers mental health by imposing unrealistic expectations. This operationalization of perfectionism is a central focus of this paper.

By exploring this operationalization of perfectionism and related psychological frameworks, the paper aims to synthesize existing literature on perfectionism and its measurement. It will critically examine various theories and measurement scales, exploring how perfectionism manifests among engineering students and its implications for their mental health and academic performance. The analysis will also evaluate the strengths and limitations of current scales in capturing perfectionistic tendencies within this population.

The significance of this research lies in identifying the strengths and limitations of current perfectionism scales, enhancing our understanding of mental health challenges in engineering education, and providing a foundation for future interventions.