Mental health – it may be challenging to maintain for many college students while coping with a full-time workload. Nevertheless, it’s proving to be a hidden, ever-growing concern, particularly inside one of the most difficult schools at Cal Poly: the College of Engineering.
For students like biomedical engineering junior Gavin Farac, there is a persistent sensation of dread and concern about the classwork that stays in the back of his mind.
“I spend hours doing work outside of class, continuously, simply on my mind, fretting over it,” Farac added. “Even at times, I can go to the gym and hang out with friends, it’s constantly in the back of my mind thinking about the next exam I have.”
Recently, computer engineering professor Andrew Danowitz worked on a research analysing mental health in the engineering departments of eight institutions around the nation.
The research started in 2019 by having engineering students complete patient health surveys. Individuals who gave their contact information were afterwards called into an interview evaluating their mental health. Highlights from the material acquired via interviews and the questionnaire in 2019 were recently published on Cal Poly’s Faculty of Engineering news website, CENG Connection.
“We did have all that excellent 2019 data however, and we utilised that,” Danowitz added. “We evaluated it by itself simply to create a benchmark for what does mental health in the engineering programmes look like during quote-unquote regular periods non-pandemic times.”
The data included some illuminating information: while engineering students don’t seem to be at a greater risk of dealing with their mental health compared to other majors, they are less likely to obtain care for their mental health concerns.
A aspect that some argue fosters this is scheduling, since the course load for the engineering degree offers students little time for anything else in life. Aerospace engineering junior George Harrison found this to be a big difficulty for himself during autumn quarter, when he would occasionally spend 13 hours straight in the library.
“I’d just walk up at like 8 a.m. and I’d remain here until 12 a.m.,” Harrison said. “And that was extremely psychologically taxing on me. But, you know, that’s what I had to do in order to pass my classes.”
Harrison, who aspired to go on the Dean’s List last quarter, was totally focused to his academic work, abandoning his social life and isolating himself in the process. He only had time to chat to his girlfriend after returning home late from the library, and both she and his buddies had gotten anxious.
“She advised me to go to a therapist, but I just kept telling her ‘I simply don’t have the time,’” Harrison recalled.
Farac also has problems finding the time to do things he enjoys, like going to the gym or spending time with friends.
“I’m not able to attain that work-social balance or academic and social balance, and it just pushes too much towards the academic side,” Farac said.
Another contributing reason behind engineering students not obtaining sufficient mental health support is the engineering culture. For engineers, there is an assumption that stress is a necessary component of the curriculum, and students effectively sign up for it when they become engineering majors. Harrison said it’s like a “rite of passage.”
“If you want to go through engineering, you have to always be feeling stressed out,” Harrison remarked. “And I believe some individuals would welcome it and hence not seek out mental health resources.”
Due of this expectation, it’s also tougher for engineering students to be taken seriously when it comes to mental health concerns. Danowitz realised this was a difficulty in his studies.
“We’ve had kids report to us as part of these interviews that they’ve gone to counselling facilities and the counsellor has dismissed them,” Danowitz added. “Saying, you know, ‘well, your issue is you’re just an engineering student, so after you graduate or leave the school, things will get better for you.’”
Danowitz believes that the faculty within the Faculty of Engineering may support students by giving accommodations for those who are struggling. Professors may also promote improved habits for students, including better sleep routines, as well as providing early due dates and cooperating with other faculty on decreasing project burdens or staggering tasks. He also thinks that the department might extra be candid about its own challenges.
“If we could be more upfront about our challenges, the times we failed, it may go a long way in helping kids and others navigate through their own struggles,” he added.
For anybody battling with mental health, students may access resources as well as counselling options on the Campus Health and Wellness website.
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