The Student Wellbeing & Life Outcomes Project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), investigates the mental health, wellbeing, and life outcomes (education and employment) of young people, with a particular focus on those who enter higher education.

Currently, there is a lack of evidence and understanding about which groups of young people going to universities may have poorer life outcomes (such as education, employment, and mental health and wellbeing) as a result of their mental health and wellbeing during their adolescent years. These life outcomes and their mental health and wellbeing, however, are important for understanding the context of the complex social identities of young people, such as the intersections between their gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and socio-economic status (SES). Much of the large body of quantitative research on life outcomes tends to focus on one social characteristic/identity of the student, such as the young person’s gender or ethnicity or socioeconomic status, but not the combination of all of these, i.e. the intersectionalities.

The main objectives of this research project are to:

1. Reduce the evidence gap on how the mental health and wellbeing of adolescents affect their transitions into higher education and their life outcomes after graduating.
2. Create information for policymakers (such as government, universities and charities) to implement suitable policies and practices that can enhance mental health and wellbeing outcomes.
3. Determine whether any findings vary based on individuals’ social characteristics (particularly the intersectionality of social characteristics, such as differences between white male students and black male students).

This research utilises a secondary data analysis approach making use of longitudinal data from the Next Steps Study (formerly the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England [LSYPE]). Next Steps is a major national cohort study following a representative sample of over 15,000 people born in 1989-90 over 7 years between 2004-2010 (from when they were 14-20 years old), then again in 2015 (when they were 25 years old). Data were collected on factors including their attitudes, education, SES, and mental health and wellbeing. We will supplement these data with university environment data.

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