Why And How Do Students Need To Have Their Mental Health Considered In Engineering Schools?

This paper addresses the students’ mental health in higher education and more specifically in engineering schools. Several studies have shown student mental health and wellbeing can affect students’ academic performance. We investigate how student’s mental health is considered in engineering schools as well as how it should be and study the case of our engineering school. First, we present several research and studies conducted on how mental health is considered in higher education and its impact on academic performance. In the second part, we study the case of our engineering school with the implementation of a survey among students and teachers to collect their feedback. We add to this survey a collection of testimonies from students. We will analyse how mental health is considered and the impact of addressing mental health on student success in an engineering school. Finally, we present possible solutions to improve the consideration of mental health. These solutions are aimed at administrations, teaching staff and engineering school students. Indeed, the consideration of mental health must be global and concern the entire educational organisation.