Wellbeing (STILL) matters!

Trends come and go, especially in education and the workplace. Still, wellbeing seems to be one that is here to stay. But, don't take my word for it, evidence matters and indeed, rates of wellbeing in young people worldwide have been dropping and well before the pandemic.

My co-author and statistician extraordinaire, Dr. Jose Marquez (and here) and I are set to publish a peer reviewed paper shortly on the wellbeing of UAE students using PISA reports (and another on the grade differences between public and private UAE schools with Dr. Natasha Ridge). I'll have to keep you in suspense for our findings, but this stream of research has shown that life satisfaction scores for 15 year olds has decreased in the period of 2015 to 2018 in 39 of 46 countries in which PISA scores were collected, which included the UAE.

Globally, results show that ICT use played a very small role despite the fact that most adults worry about time spent online. Life satisfaction also declined the most for young people in the highest socioeconomic classes. Money, can we say it once and for all, does not add to happiness (although it does add to unhappiness when there is not enough). Life satisfaction scores also declined the most in girls compared to boys. Finally, a decline in school wellbeing explained between 20% and 65% of the decline in life satisfaction across countries. See this presentation here on this global study (publication forthcoming).

We know that wellbeing is linked to learning in students. We also know that wellbeing is linked to teaching in teachers. And now, with a pandemic in tow, it can only matter more.

Wellbeing is not a trend; it's a staple of life we must all be concerned about.

See more at www.happinessmatters.org and we'll keep you updated on those publications!