Institutional Role in the Mental Health and Well-being of Undergraduate Engineering Students: Student and Faculty Perspectives

Muhammad Asghar; Angela Minichiello; Assad Iqbal

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Promoting Well-Being in Engineering Education: Strategies and Perspectives
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Page Count: 16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--43963
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/43963
Download Count: 289

Paper Authors

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Muhammad Asghar Utah State University orcid.org/0000-0002-2811-9172

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Muhammad Asghar is a graduate researcher and a Ph.D. candidate in the Engineering Education Department at Utah State University. He has a master's in clinical psychology, a master's in educational psychology, and a bachelor's in computer information systems engineering. His research interests consist of investigating undergraduate engineering students' mental health and well-being. He is also interested in research related to using different technical and non-technical methods to enhance the learning processes of undergraduate engineering students.

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Angela Minichiello Utah State University orcid.org/0000-0002-4545-9355

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Angela Minichiello is an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Utah State University (USU) and a registered professional mechanical engineer. Her research examines issues of access, diversity, and inclusivity in engineering.

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Assad Iqbal Arizona State University orcid.org/0000-0002-8060-7384

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Assad Iqbal is a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at Arizona State University working on the National Science Foundation-funded research project i.e., Engineering For Us All (e4usa). Assad Iqbal is an information system engineer with a Ph.D. in Engineering Education and around 14 years of teaching experience in undergraduate engineering and technology education. His research interest is to explore, understand, and enhance ways to promote self-directed, self-regulated life-long learning among the undergraduate engineering student population. Various pieces of his research efforts are intended to converge into an inclusive instructional design for undergraduate engineering students.

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Abstract

Background Mental Health and Wellbeing (MHW) has been attributed to student success in higher education. While the role of institutions of higher education in the MHW of students is generally known, to the knowledge of authors, research about how students and their faculty perceive this role in undergraduate engineering education contexts is limited.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the institution (i.e., administration and faculty) in providing students with an overall positive experience in the college of engineering as perceived by students and their faculty.

Design/Method This study reports on the analysis of the semi-structured interview data collected from undergraduate engineering students, and their faculty in the college of engineering at a Western land grant institution of higher education. As part of a larger project related to the MHW of undergraduate engineering students, these data were collected in response to a specific question about the institution’s role in providing an overall positive student experience. Thematic Analysis of data collected from 13 interview participants (8 students and 5 faculty members) was conducted.

Findings Thematic analysis resulted in three themes from student interviews addressing the need for 1) improvement in first-year student experiences, 2) delivering needed information about students’ MHW and academics, and 3) improvement in the hands-on experiences of students. Resultant four themes from faculty interviews addressed: 1) effective faculty-student communication, 2) providing opportunities to increase positive academic and social experiences, 3) cognizance of students’ situation, and 4) dissemination of MHW-related information.

Conclusions Institutions of higher education play a vital role in the overall positive experiences of engineering undergraduates to support their MHW. While engineering undergraduates and their faculty agree on the need for improved dissemination of information to students, the faculty focus is on MHW-related information and students’ desire for information more broadly including information relating to courses and hands-on experiences. Both agree that institutions need to be aware of the MHW need of students.

Citation
Format

Asghar, M., & Minichiello, A., & Iqbal, A. (2023, June), Institutional Role in the Mental Health and Well-being of Undergraduate Engineering Students: Student and Faculty Perspectives Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43963

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Background
Mental Health and Wellbeing (MHW) has been attributed to student success in higher education. While the role of institutions of higher education in the MHW of students is generally known, to the knowledge of authors, research about how students and their faculty perceive this role in undergraduate engineering education contexts is limited. 

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the institution (i.e., administration and faculty) in providing students with an overall positive experience in the college of engineering as perceived by students and their faculty. 

Design/Method
This study reports on the analysis of the semi-structured interview data collected from undergraduate engineering students, and their faculty in the college of engineering at a Western land grant institution of higher education. As part of a larger project related to the MHW of undergraduate engineering students, these data were collected in response to a specific question about the institution’s role in providing an overall positive student experience. Thematic Analysis of data collected from 13 interview participants (8 students and 5 faculty members) was conducted.  

Findings
Thematic analysis resulted in three themes from student interviews addressing the need for 1) improvement in first-year student experiences, 2) delivering needed information about students’ MHW and academics, and 3) improvement in the hands-on experiences of students. Resultant four themes from faculty interviews addressed: 1) effective faculty-student communication, 2) providing opportunities to increase positive academic and social experiences, 3) cognizance of students’ situation, and 4) dissemination of MHW-related information.

Conclusions
Institutions of higher education play a vital role in the overall positive experiences of engineering undergraduates to support their MHW. While engineering undergraduates and their faculty agree on the need for improved dissemination of information to students, the faculty focus is on MHW-related information and students’ desire for information more broadly including information relating to courses and hands-on experiences. Both agree that institutions need to be aware of the MHW need of students. 

AU  - Muhammad Asghar
AU  - Angela Minichiello
AU  - Assad Iqbal
CY  - Baltimore , Maryland
DA  - 2023/06/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Institutional Role in the Mental Health and Well-being of Undergraduate Engineering Students: Student and Faculty Perspectives
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/43963
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--43963
ER  -