Description project
Facing “uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure” (so-called “Vulnerability”, according to Brené Brown) is hard for most individuals, including university students. For many, it leads to anxiety and emotional closure, trying to protect oneself from the vulnerabilities. However, research shows that this closure most likely negatively influence well-being, while facing the vulnerability and appropriate self-disclosure can benefit well-being, both directly and through increased social support.
In this Senior Comenius education project, we aim to help students become more comfortable with vulnerability, to stimulate their well-being. Towards that end, we 1) study the vulnerabilities faced by university students and teachers using experience sampling, 2) design with students and teachers material to work on vulnerability in the university context (e.g., workshop and lecture formats, reflection assignments, orientation week activities, card game design, teacher training), and 3) validate the effectiveness of the interventions in three university programs.
Expected outcomes
Based on prior experience in educational practice, we expect that this combination of classroom activities and teacher training can have lasting impact on student well-being and inter-student support.
All the designed interventions and association recommendations will be bundled for wide reuse within and outside the University of Twente. Multiple programs already indicated interested.
The scientific insights gathered are expected to be valuable for research on vulnerability and well-being among university students and more widely in (young) adult populations. We hope it can build up to continued research on handling vulnerability, as it is often underlies individual professional stances to global challenges worked on in our group.
involved researchers
Duration of the project
September 2025 – February 2028
Funding & partners
Comenius Senior Fellows 2025 Grant