Time for mentally healthy engineering students

Mental health issues related to academic stress are experienced amongst undergraduates from different disciplines, with key factors being workload, study skills, resource access and socioeconomic conditions. The status of mental health and well-being of engineering students, globally, has become of increasing concern, but is relatively poorly researched. This paper presents the findings of a faculty initiative at a research-intensive institution in South Africa to determine engineering students' experience of academic stress. Drawing on a holistic educational model, quantitative and qualitative survey results are presented. Key systemic factors are the volume, intensity and distribution of workload, as well as the experience of “information overload” during the Covid-19 pandemic. On the affective front, students provide detailed accounts of the negative emotional impact, which, in turn, contributes to loss of productivity and confidence. The cohort-comparison analysis reveals clear trends across years of study, as well as problem- versus emotion-focused coping strategies. This faculty case study on engineering student experience of academic-related stresses hopes to demonstrate the synergistic relationship between the systemic, affective and, ultimately, cognitive educational support domains for which engineering faculties are responsible. Suggestions are included for ways in which to facilitate improved mental health in our engineering students.

I. Introduction

Engineering education has become increasingly complex in recent decades. Contributing factors are the significant shifts in curricula aligned to more holistic graduate competencies, staggering technological developments and globalisation. This is compounded by the challenge of attracting, retaining and graduating greater numbers of students from diverse backgrounds who are able to address 21st century engineering needs. These shifts have had consequences for engineering educators and students alike, manifesting in increasing workloads and significant stress for both. The dilemma of a heavy workload and pressures to incorporate new, relevant material into the engineering curriculum is not new [1]; faculties worldwide pride themselves on heavy workloads and difficulty that is ingrained in the culture of educating engineers [2]. Attrition rates on engineering programmes [3] may well be exacerbated by the perception that students who cannot deal with the workload and its sacrifices are not suited to engineering [4]. The notion that coping with an immense workload will somehow better equip graduates is seriously challenged by the persistent complaints regarding the lack of key graduate skills and attributes [5], [6].