2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Investigating the development and manifestation of engineering students’ conceptualizations of well-being in engineering programs and careers

Presented at Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Poster Session

This empirical research work-in-progress paper describes the year-one results of a multi-institutional, collaborative, longitudinal research project. This project, funded by the National Science Foundation Directorate for STEM Education, investigates the development and manifestation of engineering students’ conceptualizations of well-being in engineering programs and careers.

Worsening student mental health is an ongoing crisis. Recent research identifies that more than 75% of college students experience moderate to severe psychological distress and that more than 60% meet the criteria for one or more mental health diagnoses [1]. As these statistics rise, there are consequences to the engineering field, such as negative impacts on retention, development, and success of the incoming engineering workforce. We aim to explore and understand the impact of mental health experiences on students’ career goals, preparatory actions, and ultimate career choices through a five-year longitudinal study using qualitative methods. The research consists of semi-structured interviews accompanied by participants’ construction of concept maps representing their understanding of mental health and wellness. This paper presents the project's first year, including preliminary results from the inductive thematic analysis and future work of the project.

Since August 2024, 55 students across all years of study have been interviewed, with the majority (n=27) being first-year students. Informed by the existing literature and our theoretical frameworks, Cultural Landscape in Engineering Education, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and Engineering Thriving, we are inductively coding and thematically analyzing the data. This paper will explore some of the emerging themes from preliminary coding.

Based on preliminary results, three major themes are emerging from the data: (1) emphasis on the impact of social support networks (friends, family, peers) on student mental health experiences, (2) connections of dimensions of wellbeing to one another (e.g., physical and mental health) and (3), the overlap between students’ career expectations, their goals, and the motivators they cite.

Following a completed analysis of first-year interviews, the next steps for this project involve follow-up interviews with the first-year participants as they progress through their degrees, to explore their goals, career decisions, evolving mental health experiences, and the interplay between these factors. We expect our findings will help researchers and practitioners better understand engineering students’ mental health and its impacts on their long-term success, such as through students’ choices about their engineering careers.

Keywords: Career Choice, Mental Health, Undergraduate, Qualitative

[1] M. E. P. Seligman, Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Free Press, 2011.

Authors

Kailey Head University of Michigan [biography]

Kailey Head (she/her) is a Doctoral Student in Engineering Education Research Program at the University of Michigan. Kailey is also pursuing her MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. She received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University. Her research interests include student wellbeing, engineering design, and manufacturing curriculum.
Ash Quadd Rowan University [biography]

Ash Quadd (they/them) is a second-year Ph.D. Student at Rowan University in the Experiential Engineering Education Department, where they draw on their experiences as an agender queer person and advocate for research inspiration. Ash previously attended the University of Delaware, where they completed their B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and M.S. in Biopharmaceutical Science. After working in the biopharmaceutical industry, they decided to pursue a Ph.D. in engineering education to continue their advocacy work with the Queer community in engineering. Ash is currently a member of Dr. Justin Major’s ASPIRE (Advancing Student Pathways through Inequality Research in Engineering) Lab, where they study how mental health affects undergraduate engineering students’ career trajectories. In their dissertation work, Ash focuses on LGBTQIA+ experiences and identity negotiation in engineering. Across their efforts, they aim to use research to change engineering culture, making engineering more accessible to all marginalized populations, resulting in thriving rather than just surviving.
Maria Elisabetta Maione Rowan University [biography]

Maria Maione is an Undergraduate Research Assistant in Engineering Education at Rowan University and a member of the ASPIRE research group. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a minor in Computer Science and is expected to graduate in 2028. She plans to continue her studies toward a Master’s degree. Her research interests include assistive technology, with a focus on improving accessibility through engineering design. She is a National Science Foundation S-STEM Scholar, SMART Scholar with the Department of Defense, and serves as President of Rowan University's Society for Low-Income and First-Generation Engineers.
Isabel Miller http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-9774-5812 University of Michigan [biography]

Isabel Miller (she/her) is a Research Investigator at the University of Michigan in the Biomedical Engineering department. She received her PhD in Engineering Education Research at the University of Michigan in 2025. She received her BS and MS degrees in Bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include accessibility in engineering education and disability.
Dr. Karin Jensen http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9456-5042 University of Michigan [biography]

Karin Jensen, Ph.D. (she/her) is an assistant professor in biomedical engineering and engineering education research at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include mental health and wellness, engineering student career pathways, and engagement of engineering faculty in engineering education research.
Dr. Justin Charles Major http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3111-8509 Rowan University [biography]

Dr. Justin C. Major (they/them) is an Assistant Professor of Experiential Engineering Education at Rowan University where they leads ASPIRE Lab (Advancing Student Pathways through Inequality Research in Engineering). Justin’s research focuses on low-income students, engineering belonging and marginalization mechanisms, adverse childhood experiences, and feminist approaches to EER, and connects these topics to broader understandings of student success in engineering. Justin completed their Ph.D. in Engineering Education (’22) and M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics (’21) at Purdue University, and two B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Secondary Mathematics Education at the University of Nevada, Reno (’17). Atop their education, Justin is a previous NSF Graduate Research Fellow and has won over a dozen awards for research, service, and activism related to marginalized communities, including the 2020 ASEE ERM Division Best Diversity Paper for their work on test anxiety. As a previous homeless and food-insecure student, Justin is eager to challenge and change engineering engineering education to be a pathway for socioeconomic mobility and broader systemic improvement rather than an additional barrier.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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