Mental health, gender, and higher education attainment
Publisher DOI
Abstract
We compared the mental health of higher education students with that of nonstudents. Moreover, we examined whether the mental health of students predicts their probability of obtaining a higher education degree, and whether the extent to which mental health affects educational attainment varies by gender. Drawing on a risk and resilience framework, we considered five facets of mental health that may be implicated in distinct ways in the educational attainment process: positive attitude towards life, self-esteem, self-efficacy, negative affectivity, and perceived stress. We used data from a nationally representative panel study from Switzerland (Nstudents= 2070, 42.8% male; Nnonstudents= 3755, 45.9% male). The findings suggest that overall, themental health of higher education students was relatively similar to that of nonstudents, although students exhibited slightly higher self-esteem, slightly weaker self-efficacy, greater negative affectivity, and higher levels of perceived stress. The effects of different facets of mental health on higher education degree attainment were mostly statistically and/or practically insignificant. However, positive attitudes towards life had a substantial positive effect on the probability of being awarded a higher education degree. Mental health was equally important for male and female students’ educational attainment.
Date Issued
2023
Publication Type
Article
Language(s)
en
Author(s)
Burger, Kaspar | |
Strassmann Rocha, Diego |
Journal
Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft
Publisher
Springer
ISSN
1862-5215
Access(Rights)
open.access