Student well-being is an important element of education as students with high levels of wellbeing tend to do better both academically and personally. Yet in a recent national survey of Danish students, one in five reported feeling stressed and one in ten that they were feeling lonely.

This phase of emerging adulthood is uniquely challenging as multiple life events are happening at the same time: moving out, establishing new friendships, performing academically and carving out a career path. This can lead to stress and anxiety affecting both well-being and academic achievements. Research communities at Stanford University, UC Berkeley as well as universities on the East Coast are doing leading research on how to mitigate this.

Student’s well-being – a Danish key priority

The Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science has designated student well-being as one of the priorities of the Danish government with a political aim of improving the well-being of all students and not only the group that self-reports stress.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Science and Innovation Centre Denmark in Silicon Valley and Boston are therefore starting a new project on how to design a better student life for better learning. The project, which will begin in February 2021, aims to advance the international perspective on the design of such initiatives by involving key US experts in the field and setting up partnerships for the Danish stakeholders. Collaboration with key US researchers and stakeholders in the field can provide a valuable international perspective on the design of Danish interventions and provide collaboration opportunities for Danish researchers, practitioners and teachers in the field.

Prof. Sonja Lyubomirski from University of California, Riverside provided such international expertise in a recent webinar organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Lyubomirski is the well-known author of “The How of Happiness” and a leading scholar in the field. According to Lyubomirski, it is important to think about happiness when discussing students’ wellbeing.

Studies show that happy people are more productive and more creative

Prof. Sonja Lyubomirski

University of California, Riverside

In Lyubomirski’s laboratory they investigate how short-term positive interventions can have real big impact. In an education setting, this for instance translates into how small comments and actions by a teacher can impact the students in a positive way. Moreover, she argues that there are very specific challenges with online learning due to Covid-19. Her research shows that feeling connected is the key to happiness, and it is therefore essential to consider how we can get more interaction into long-distance learning during Covid-19.

Below you can see a video clip from the webinar “Student well-being in the Nordic countries” with participation from experts in California.

Much of the research in the US consists of controlled experiments with interventions that are either teacher-focused (i.e. what the teacher can do) and student-focused (i.e. what the students themselves can do). The results from these interventions are particularly relevant for Danish actors wishing to design specific interventions to roll out at higher education institutions.