Addressing Mental Health and Well-Being in Higher Education: Collaborative Insights from Education, Psychology, and the Learning Sciences

Dear Colleagues:

The topic of mental health and overall well-being in higher education has been brought to the spotlight following the COVID-19 pandemic. While the adverse psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly been undeniable for university students and faculty alike, the reality, however, is that concerns surrounding mental health and other aspects of well-being in university settings—such as youth anxiety and depression—were on the upswing well before the COVID-19 pandemic. Conversations on these topics, in addition, have been somewhat segmented, typically taking place within specific disciplines, such as public health, education, and psychology, with little interdisciplinary focus.  This Special Issue has been designed to provide an interdisciplinary platform where scholars from across the globe can productively and holistically exchange ideas on mental health and well-being among the members of higher education, including students, faculty, and staff.

We welcome submissions of empirical research, reviews, and perspective papers. Here are some examples of the topical foci:

• Insights from Educational Psychology in understanding and promoting student mental health and well-being;
• Mental health and well-being among international students;
• Predictors of mental health among university students;
• Mental health consequences of social justice movements, such as Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate;
• Relationship between well-being and educational outcomes;
• Pandemic-related learning loss and its impact on student and faculty well-being;
• Mental health literacy among university faculty;
• Impact of online teaching and learning on well-being;
• Consequences of de-transitioning from online teaching and learning to in-person campus life post pandemic;
• Infiltration of artificial intelligence and its influence on student and faculty well-being;
• Roles of computing and digital resources in health promotion.

Please email the Guest Editor if authors would like to confirm the fit prior to submission. We hope to provide supportive reviews of submissions by junior scholars, seasoned authors, as well as mid-career academics.

Prof. Dr. Daisuke Akiba
Dr. Michelle C. Fraboni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• belongingness
• emotional health
• higher education
• mental health
• student and faculty affairs
• well-being