We held a free interactive online event discussing the importance of mental wellbeing amongst university students and how they can best be supported. We anticipated that this event would be particularly of interest to young people who are thinking of attending university (or have just started) and their parents or guardians, as well as higher education organisations and the national media.
This event was part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2021 and was made possible thanks to funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual celebration of the social sciences and a key element of ESRC’s commitment to promote awareness of UK social science research to new audiences.
We also wrote a blog post summarising the event here.
Participants were shown video clips of hypothetical stories of young people entering university. Working in groups, participants chose how to complete these hypothetical journeys of mental wellbeing, such as through a performance, a story chain, or a drawing. We came together to discuss how these hypothetical students’ lives might have been enhanced through making different decisions as they progress through university. Here are the videos: