Engineering students are often seen as the architects of tomorrow, but their psychological wellbeing is rarely part of that conversation. This gap led me to author a cross-country study addressing this blind spot.

What we studied

Alongside co-authors Isha Mittal (IIT Delhi) and Muhammad Usman Hadi (Ulster University), I surveyed 590 undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students across India and Pakistan using the DASS-21, a standardized clinical scale measuring depression, anxiety, and stress.

What we found

Nearly 29% of students reported mild to moderate psychological distress, while 6.5% reported severe stress. The leading contributors were academic workload, examinations, and uncertainty about future employment, pressures that often go unspoken in a field that prizes technical performance over emotional wellbeing.

Why it matters

Engineering education in South Asia has expanded rapidly, but mental health support hasn't kept pace. Our findings point to a clear need: integrating counselling services, mental health awareness, and curriculum flexibility directly into engineering education, not as an afterthought, but as a core part of how these students are supported.

What this means for my practice

This research directly shapes how I approach academic mentoring for students navigating similar pressures, recognizing that academic stress is rarely just about the material itself.

The full preprint, including methodology and complete findings, is available at: https://doi.org/10.36227/techrxiv.176105918.86388307/v1