Women in Engineering: Analysis of Psychological Well-being, a comparative gender study.

Abstract

Psychological well-being is a construct that enables the understanding of positive mental health in university students, directly influencing their academic adjustment, performance, and their capacity to cope with the multiple demands of higher education. Therefore, the objective of this study was to measure Psychological Well-Being (PWB) in university students and to analyse gender comparisons, evaluating differences between men and women, as well as assessing the reliability of the questionnaire. The study population is located at a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in Northeastern Mexico. The sample was non-probabilistic by convenience, with n = 1,052 students, consisting of 311 women (31.5%) and 721 men (68.5%), with a mean age of 22 years. The study adopted a quantitative and cross-sectional approach, with a descriptive research design. The instrument employed was the Psychological Well-Being and Stress Questionnaire (BPBE), from which only the Psychological Well-Being factor was analysed across its three dimensions: D1. Self-acceptance, D2. Autonomy, and D3. Self-efficacy. The results show reliability levels reflected by Cronbach’s alpha of α = 0.794 and McDonald’s omega of 0.828, indicating adequate values for the internal consistency of the scale and its dimensions, demonstrating high reliability within the applied context. The Mann–Whitney test revealed a p value of 0.158, which is greater than the threshold of 0.05, indicating that no statistically significant differences exist between genders. Therefore, psychological well-being levels are similar for both men and women.