Examining Factors Related to Engineering Graduate Students' Mental Health Experiences

Abstract

Mental health impacts students on human, academic, and economic levels. A growing national mental health crisis over the past decade has left higher education institutions struggling to meet students’ mental health needs. Understanding the scope and impact of these experiences for engineering graduate students is critical to supporting their academic success and reducing attrition. My thesis addresses the research question: “What are engineering graduate students’ mental health experiences?” This dissertation includes three studies: a scoping literature review, a photovoice study, and a quantitative analysis study. This work found that engineering graduate students have a range of mental health experiences (i.e., positive, negative, and mixed), and that the culture of engineering corresponded mainly to students’ negative mental health experiences. Findings suggest that to promote students’ academic success, we must work to support students’ positive mental health experiences and mitigate or remove negative ones. This requires a cultural change. Stakeholders at all levels (e.g., industry employers, national policy makers, faculty, students, etc.), must critically reflect on the norms, values, and assumptions we make, and work to intentionally align our actions with our intentions.