Mindfulness and Well-Being In Higher Education

Authors:

Keywords: Higher Education, Student Well-Being, Distress, Burnout, Psychology, Mindfulness

Abstract: The increased rigor and multifaceted pressures of higher education puts on substantial strain on students’ mental well-being. If not well-managed, such strain could, in turn, precipitate severe psychological distress and eventual burnout (March-Amengual et al., 2022). Concerningly, recent studies suggest that prevelance rate for burnout among university students could be as high as 59.9% (e.g., Liu et al., 2023). In mitigation, we propound the consideration of fostering individual mindfulness as a potential buffering mean. Mindfulness entails present-centered awareness and protects individuals from being overwhelmed by an inundation of thoughts (Kabat-Zinn et al., 1985; Vago & David, 2012). With increasing empirical evidence of its beneficial effects on university students’ well-being (e.g., Rava & Hotez, 2021), we seek to discuss its potential utility and avenues toward feasible implementation within higher education institutes.