Breaking the Stigma: Fostering Mental Health Resilience in Engineering—A Systematic Literature Review

Hoc T. Nguyen; Javeed Kittur

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 13
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/48407

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Paper Authors

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Hoc T. Nguyen University of Oklahoma

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Hoc Nguyen is a dedicated undergraduate student enrolled in the esteemed Gallogly College of Engineering at The University of Oklahoma, where he is passionately pursuing a degree in computer science. Recognized for his academic diligence and intellectual curiosity, Hoc seeks to delve deeper into the knowledge of mental health research within the university community. With a strong commitment to understanding the intricacies of mental well-being among undergraduate students and faculty, he aims to contribute valuable insights that can enhance support systems and resources available on campus. Through his academic endeavors and research pursuits, Hoc aspires to make a meaningful difference in promoting mental wellness within the academic environment.

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Javeed Kittur University of Oklahoma orcid.org/0000-0001-6132-7304

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Dr. Kittur is an Assistant Professor in the Gallogly College of Engineering at The University of Oklahoma. He completed his Ph.D. in Engineering Education Systems and Design program from Arizona State University, 2022. He received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and a Master’s in Power Systems from India in 2011 and 2014, respectively. He has worked with Tata Consultancy Services as an Assistant Systems Engineer from 2011–2012 in India. He has worked as an Assistant Professor (2014–2018) in the department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, KLE Technological University, India. He is a certified IUCEE International Engineering Educator. He was awarded the ’Ing.Paed.IGIP’ title at ICTIEE, 2018. He is serving as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Engineering Education Transformations (JEET).

He is interested in conducting engineering education research, and his interests include student retention in online and in-person engineering courses/programs, data mining and learning analytics in engineering education, broadening student participation in engineering, faculty preparedness in cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of learning, and faculty experiences in teaching online courses. He has published papers at several engineering education research conferences and journals. Particularly, his work is published in the International Conference on Transformations in Engineering Education (ICTIEE), American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Computer Applications in Engineering Education (CAEE), International Journal of Engineering Education (IJEE), Journal of Engineering Education Transformations (JEET), and IEEE Transactions on Education. He is also serving as a reviewer for a number of conferences and journals focused on engineering education research.

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Abstract

The importance of mental health has been increasingly clear in the fields of academics and professional development in recent years. It is a well-known fact that people of various backgrounds and occupations can experience mental health problems that negatively affect their general well-being. This fact is not an exception for engineering students, who struggle with the demanding requirements of their courses and the unwavering quest for perfection. Sometimes, the rigorous demands of engineering school can have a negative impact on students' mental health. It is for this reason that they must place a high priority on self-care practices that include their emotional, psychological, and social needs in addition to their academic goals. Important elements of this self-care routine include regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, and taking pauses from intense study to partake in enjoyable and relaxing activities.

Though the significance of mental health for engineering students' academic and professional lives is increasingly acknowledged, there is still a large research vacuum regarding a thorough understanding and recommendations for this group of students. While there is a wealth of general research on mental health and well-being, little of it focuses on the particular pressures, coping strategies, and support networks that engineering students must deal with. The purpose of our planned systematic literature review (SLR) is to close this knowledge gap by analyzing the body of research and pinpointing areas in which more study is required to fully address the mental health requirements of engineering students. The main inquiry that will steer our comprehensive literature evaluation is: What are the present conditions, patterns, and prospects for mental health research in engineering?

The SLR process comprises of three phases: identification, screening, and synthesis. In the identification phase, search terms including (mental health + engineering, mental illness + engineering, depression + engineering, anxiety + engineering, and well-being + engineering) were put in several databases to retrieve the articles. The databases include Google Scholar, Web of Science, IEEE Explorer, Engineering Village, EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, and Wiley Online Library. A total of 3008 articles were retrieved. Next, in the screening phase, the articles were first screened by abstract, and 2775 articles were removed. The 233 articles were then screened by full text. The screening was done following the exclusion criteria (EC): EC1: Articles published in languages other than English; EC2: Articles published before 2014; EC3: Articles lacking a clear focus on engineering; EC4: Articles not directly addressing mental health, encompassing mental illness, depression, anxiety, well-being, and anxiety disorders; EC5: Articles that include content relevant to both engineers and non-engineers; EC6: Articles that do not present experimental data; and EC7: Articles primarily focusing on graduate students. The research team is currently reviewing the articles and will complete the analysis in a few weeks. More details on the preliminary findings and the themes emerging from the synthesis of the information from the reviewed articles will be presented in the full paper.

Citation
Format

Nguyen, H. T., & Kittur, J. (2024, June), Breaking the Stigma: Fostering Mental Health Resilience in Engineering—A Systematic Literature Review Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://strategy.asee.org/48407

TY - CPAPER
AB - The importance of mental health has been increasingly clear in the fields of academics and professional development in recent years. It is a well-known fact that people of various backgrounds and occupations can experience mental health problems that negatively affect their general well-being. This fact is not an exception for engineering students, who struggle with the demanding requirements of their courses and the unwavering quest for perfection. Sometimes, the rigorous demands of engineering school can have a negative impact on students&#39; mental health. It is for this reason that they must place a high priority on self-care practices that include their emotional, psychological, and social needs in addition to their academic goals. Important elements of this self-care routine include regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, and taking pauses from intense study to partake in enjoyable and relaxing activities.

Though the significance of mental health for engineering students&#39; academic and professional lives is increasingly acknowledged, there is still a large research vacuum regarding a thorough understanding and recommendations for this group of students. While there is a wealth of general research on mental health and well-being, little of it focuses on the particular pressures, coping strategies, and support networks that engineering students must deal with. The purpose of our planned systematic literature review (SLR) is to close this knowledge gap by analyzing the body of research and pinpointing areas in which more study is required to fully address the mental health requirements of engineering students. The main inquiry that will steer our comprehensive literature evaluation is: What are the present conditions, patterns, and prospects for mental health research in engineering?

The SLR process comprises of three phases: identification, screening, and synthesis. In the identification phase, search terms including (mental health + engineering, mental illness + engineering, depression + engineering, anxiety + engineering, and well-being + engineering) were put in several databases to retrieve the articles. The databases include Google Scholar, Web of Science, IEEE Explorer, Engineering Village, EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, and Wiley Online Library. A total of 3008 articles were retrieved. Next, in the screening phase, the articles were first screened by abstract, and 2775 articles were removed. The 233 articles were then screened by full text. The screening was done following the exclusion criteria (EC): EC1: Articles published in languages other than English; EC2: Articles published before 2014; EC3: Articles lacking a clear focus on engineering; EC4: Articles not directly addressing mental health, encompassing mental illness, depression, anxiety, well-being, and anxiety disorders; EC5: Articles that include content relevant to both engineers and non-engineers; EC6: Articles that do not present experimental data; and EC7: Articles primarily focusing on graduate students. The research team is currently reviewing the articles and will complete the analysis in a few weeks. More details on the preliminary findings and the themes emerging from the synthesis of the information from the reviewed articles will be presented in the full paper.
AU - Hoc T. Nguyen
AU - Javeed Kittur
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Breaking the Stigma: Fostering Mental Health Resilience in Engineering—A Systematic Literature Review
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/48407
ER -