Engineering programs across Ontario’s post-secondary campuses are known to be very intensive due to their rigorous curriculum (i.e., taking 6 courses plus labs each semester instead of the normal 5) and demanding coursework. The nature of these programs can put a tremendous strain on students, affecting their overall mental health and well-being. To better support the mental health and well-being of engineering students, it’s important to be aware of the unique pressures they face and the role of engineering stress culture.
Engineering Stress Culture (ESC)
Stress culture is not unique to engineering programs, but ESC refers to the high-stress environments and poor mental health that are both expected and normalized by students in engineering programs.1 Engineering culture on campus can be intense; high stress, pulling all-nighters, and competing against classmates is seen as just being a part of the programming. Cultural norms for these programs, and overall profession, continuously perpetuate the notion of productivity over personal well-being which can be tough for students to adapt to.2 In line with these cultural norms, engineering students, when compared to other fields, are among the least likely to report symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression, and engage in help-seeking behaviour.2,3
Instead of relying on counsellors or other campus support services to help cope with coursework demands, engineering students tend to rely on fellow engineering peers.1 Within an engineering friend group, there is a common understanding of the high-stress environment, which normalizes their experiences and further emphasizes ESC.1
A study by Jensen et al.1 has identified three types of barriers engineering students experience/perceive when seeking mental health support:
- Physical barriers
- This relates to class schedules, available free time, and their location on or off campus. They feel as though they need to ‘allocate time’ to address their mental health concerns but often feel that fitting it into their packed schedule could cause more distress instead of alleviating it.
- Cultural barriers
- The idea that ESC is ‘part of the package’ for engineering students, which heightens stigma towards reaching out for help. The perpetual notion of academic achievements is prioritized over mental health.
- Informational barriers
- This relates to a lack of information about mental health resources on campus. Often, students may know these resources exist but do not know if it applies to them, how to access them, use them, or are confused about procedures related to counselling services.
Intersection of Mental Health and Engineering Programming
Contributing factors to mental health challenges commonly seen in engineering students include4:
- Academic pressure: constant pursuit of academic excellence (through coursework, internships, research projects, and extracurricular activities) can increase stress and produce a sense of self-blame if they receive a grade they’ve never gotten before – reconciling with that can be difficult [CALL-OUT BOX: To learn more about how to navigate test and exam anxiety, visit CICMH’s infosheet here.]
- Social isolation: due to rigorous study and class schedules
- Sleep deprivation: due to the competitive nature of the program and extensive coursework
- Familial pressure: due to family/guardians wanting their child to be in the program, get good grades, and succeed
- Work-life imbalance: too many components to juggle leaving little to no time to attend social activities or engage in hobbies, which can lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation
- Financial stress: The costs of tuition (which is higher than other programs) and living expenses can be overwhelming
Intense and demanding courseloads can significantly impact the physical and mental well-being of engineering students, including but not imited to5:
-> Burnout & Stress
-> Anxiety
-> Over-caffeination/irregular eating
-> Depression
-> Imposter syndrome
-> Loneliness & isolation
Furthermore, engineering students who identify as women, 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous, and/or are part of an equity-deserving group, are at a higher risk for various mental health conditions and exposure to microaggressions.2
How to Support Engineering Students
Raise awareness of campus mental health services and supports
At the beginning of the semester, students are often made aware of the supports and services available to them but they rarely retain that information in moments of need. With that in mind, it’s important to continuously promote the available services for students, what they offer, and the procedure for accessing them.
Consider specialized/targeted health promotion and mental health programming for engineering students on campus (e.g., time management workshops, stress and burnout info sessions). Be it through booths, programs, or another form of outreach, enhancing visibility of your services/programming in dedicated STEM buildings can improve outreach and awareness. Or, consider embedding counselling offices into engineering buildings on campus with hours that are more reflective of engineering programs and specific to them.
Encourage resilience
Resilience is not about suppressing/numbing emotions or being invincible in times of difficulty, it’s about being able to adapt to a difficult situation in a way that maintains psychological well-being. Knowing that, try to promote a growth mindset with students which views mistakes as a learning opportunity and acknowledges that your intelligence and knowledge can grow and become more developed through learning, effort, and embracing challenges opportunities. [CALL-OUT BOX: No concept is entirely perfect, it is important for us to thoroughly examine the concepts we use to support student success. When it comes to resilience, check out our Problematizing Resilience infosheet to learn more about this.]
Self-compassion is another crucial aspect of building resilience, as it can help make it easier to navigate challenges and setbacks. Stress impacts physical and mental health, so it’s important to regularly promote and engage students in self-compassion as they navigate stressful academic situations.
Mentorship and Workshops
Instructors—especially in first-year courses—and campus health and wellness staff should collaborate to integrate strategies on work-life balance, setting healthy boundaries, task prioritization, and time management skills conversations into the curriculum and health promotion. This could be in the format of workshops, booths, or guest presentations from student services or upper-year peers. Through peer support programming, or something similar, consider having dedicated upper-year mentors who can offer students support, guidance, and advice. [CALL-OUT BOX: To further support students beyond their time at post-secondary, and to help them navigate the transition from student life to work life, check out CICMH’s free Transitioning to the Workforce course here.]
Accessibility and Accommodations
Consider more accessibility options that can accommodate engineering stress culture and acknowledge the different learning styles students have, such as flexibility in grading, dropping lowest marks, course delivery, extended deadlines/flexible submission window (overlapping deadlines can be a huge stressor for engineering students), adjusting assignments/assessments (i.e., choosing between an exam and a project, multiple smaller stakes tests instead of one high-stakes test), etc. For more information, visit CICMH’s Accessibility and Accommodations toolkit here.
Campus Spotlights
The University of Toronto offers many engineering-specific supports, ranging from peer tutors to dedicated inclusion and transition advisors to mental health programs and wellness teams and more.
The University of Waterloo’s Community Well-being Program coordinates well-being-related programming on campus for the engineering community, provides light therapy and robotic therapy pets programming, holds events where students can normalize taking a break to recharge, and more.
At Queen’s University, STEMInA (STEM Indigenous Academics) and InEng (Indigenous Futures in Engineering) are community-building/support programs for Indigenous STEM students. These initiatives focus on creating an environment that provides the necessary tools, social and academic foundation, and community for Indigenous students in STEM-related programs to alleviate the experience of isolation.
The Engineering Cluster at the University of Guelph is a first-year residence community for engineering students, where students live and learn with fellow engineering classmates. Alongside, there are many engineering-specific clubs (such as Engineers Without Borders and Women in Science and Engineering) that enhance a sense of community for Guelph engineering students.
References
1. Jensen KJ, Mirabelli JF, Kunze AJ, Romanchek TE, Cross KJ. Undergraduate student perceptions of stress and mental health in engineering culture. International Journal of STEM Education. 2023 Apr 24;10(1). doi:10.1186/s40594-023-00419-6
2. Whitwer MD, Wilson SA, Hammer JH, Gomer B. Mental health and treatment use in undergraduate engineering students: A comparative analysis to students in other academic fields of study. Journal of Engineering Education. 2025 Jan;114(1). doi:10.1002/jee.20629
3. Jensen KJ, Cross KJ. Engineering stress culture: Relationships among mental health, engineering identity, and sense of inclusion. Journal of Engineering Education. 2021 Apr;110(2):371–92. doi:10.1002/jee.20391
4. Planet E. Behind the books: Exploring the mental health challenges of engineering students [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2025 Aug 5]. Available from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/behind-books-exploring-mental-health-challenges-engineering-w1ksc/
5. Gill A. Mental health and well-being for engineering students [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2025 Aug 5]. Available from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mental-health-well-being-engineering-students-ankur-gill-np6oc/
