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. 2024;27(1):89-122.
doi: 10.1007/s11618-023-01187-3. Epub 2023 Sep 6.

Mental health, gender, and higher education attainment

Kaspar Burger  1   2   3 , Diego Strassmann Rocha  4
Affiliations

Mental health, gender, and higher education attainment

Kaspar Burger et al. Z Erziehwiss. 2024.

Abstract
in English, German

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, the mental 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.

Supplementary information: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11618-023-01187-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Wir vergleichen die psychische Gesundheit von Studierenden und Nicht-Studierenden. Zudem untersuchen wir, inwieweit die psychische Gesundheit die Wahrscheinlichkeit eines Hochschulabschlusses bei jungen Männern und Frauen vorhersagt. Auf der Basis eines Risiko- und Resilienz-Modells berücksichtigen wir fünf Dimensionen psychischer Gesundheit, die auf unterschiedliche Weise den Bildungserfolg von Studierenden beeinflussen können – positive Lebenseinstellung, Selbstwert, Selbstwirksamkeit, negative Affektivität und Stresserleben. Wir analysieren Daten aus einer schweizweit repräsentativen Längsschnittstudie (NStudierende = 2070, 42,8 % männlich; NNicht-Studierende = 3755, 45,9 % männlich). Die Befunde deuten darauf hin, dass die psychische Gesundheit von Studierenden und Nicht-Studierenden insgesamt relativ vergleichbar war, wobei Studierende einen leicht höheren Selbstwert, geringfügig geringere Selbstwirksamkeit sowie mehr negative Affektivität und höheres Stressempfinden berichteten. Die meisten Dimensionen psychischer Gesundheit standen in keinem nennenswerten Zusammenhang mit der Wahrscheinlichkeit eines Hochschulabschlusses. Allerdings hatte eine positive Lebenseinstellung einen substantiellen positiven Effekt auf die Wahrscheinlichkeit, einen Hochschulabschluss zu erlangen. Die psychische Gesundheit war für den Bildungserfolg von Männern und Frauen gleichermassen bedeutsam.

Keywords: Gender; Life course; Panel study; Risk/resilience; Sociology; Tertiary education.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Box plots of the distribution of distinct dimensions of self-reported mental health among individuals in higher education and individuals not in higher education, separated by gender. Because the mental health variables were assessed on different scales, we rescaled them so that they had the same lower and upper limits, making them directly comparable on a scale now ranging from 0 to 5 for all variables. The horizontal line within the boxes represents the median; the box edges represent the 1st and 3rd quartiles; the end of the whiskers equal (Q3 + 1.5 * IQR) and (Q1 − 1.5 * IQR). Observations outside the whiskers are shown as dots
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Predicted probabilities of attaining a degree in higher education as a function of distinct dimensions of mental health and gender, with 95% confidence intervals
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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