Reframing Stillness in STEM: First-Year Students’ Experience with Mindfulness Practice to Cope with Stress

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 11:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Navigating Student Well-Being in University Settings

Abstract

There are institutional and cultural narratives that frame stillness and introspection as unproductive, particularly within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This two-year qualitative study explored the perceived barriers to practicing mindfulness meditation among first-year undergraduate students enrolled in a STEM transition program. Focus groups conducted each semester were thematically analyzed to identify four key barriers: (1) perceiving meditation as an unproductive use of time, (2) difficulty with sitting in stillness, (3) attempting mindfulness while overwhelmed, and (4) personalizing or conflating mindfulness with other coping techniques. Findings offer insight into the psychosocial challenges of sustaining meditation practice among undergraduates, including in fields that historically focus on performance.

Authors

• Terrie Bradshaw, University of Central Florida

• Steven Haberlin, University of Central Florida