Fostering Wellbeing at UAE Universities

Dr. Louise Lambert

Welcome everyone to my new podcast series, Happiness Matters, a positive psychology informed series on happier living. Now, many of you already know me. I'm Dr. Louise Lambert, a positive psychologist living in Dubai. What you may find strange though is my voice. Yes, I've moved to AI and I'm using it to do this series. But, rest assured, it is me behind the voice writing the scripts, pulling up the studies, finding the appropriate references and editing intensely to bring you the best experience. It's also to save time recording in order to do my best work with organizations and individuals directly. So, I hope you'll engage with the ideas and strategies and create your best life going forward, as well as gain some ideas for your organization too.

Dr. Louise Lambert

So, let’s start by talking about this really intriguing idea of "positive universities." What exactly does that mean? Well, positive universities go beyond just preparing students to pass exams or land that first job. They’re proactive institutions—think of them as incubators for mental health, wellbeing, and life skills development, all wrapped into the academic experience.

Dr. Louise Lambert

Now, this isn’t just about students, by the way. These strategies expand outward to include faculty, administrative staff, and even parents. Everyone plays a role here. Because, you know, if faculty members or staff are stressed out and overwhelmed, or if parents are uninformed about the importance of wellbeing, that trickles down and students can’t thrive in isolation.

Dr. Louise Lambert

And we know mental health issues, statistically speaking, peak around 25. But they don’t appear out of nowhere at that age; they’re brewing throughout adolescence and early adulthood. Universities are really the last structured environment young people will experience before jumping headfirst into the world of work, parenting, relationships and all of the important stuff that becomes costly to fail at. So, if we aren’t embedding wellbeing into university academics now, we only guarantee they learn it by the school of life, which is not always so helpful.

Dr. Louise Lambert

Positive universities understand that emotional, mental, and even social development is as critical as intellectual growth. They integrate practices that teach resilience, civic mindedness, and optimism as examples, tools for real life. Imagine combining rigorous academic standards with environments where students also feel seen, supported, and respected. It's likely the experience we all wanted.

Dr. Louise Lambert

But here’s the thing—this isn’t just fuzzy idealism. It's science. Happier students perform better academically, they are more likely to attain a post-secondary degree, search for work, be hired and promoted, as well as get a higher salary. Studies conducted in schools and universities show that greater wellbeing boosts learning by as much as 6 months of additional learning and reduces the chances of poor performance. Greater wellbeing also spells fewer mental health issues such as depression, loneliness, and anxiety into adulthood. More than simply “nice to have”, wellbeing is protective as well as promotive of good living, social relating and learning.

Dr. Louise Lambert

Yet, wellbeing is often positioned as the responsibility of counseling departments alone and often takes the form of consumable skills and awareness raising. But, positioning the psychosocial needs of students as individual mental health issues, institutions avoid the responsibility of building positive ecosystems. With ongoing mental health stigma, poorly resourced mental health services, and ongoing future economic and employment uncertainty owing to AI, climate change, as well as geopolitical uncertainty, learning institutions must and can do more. In fact, they have a responsibility to create positive cultures that aren’t just preparing students for GPAs or job interviews but for life itself.

Dr. Louise Lambert

So, here’s the big question—what do students actually want? Well, I conducted a study after COVID asking UAE based students that very question. We published the study and it got a lot of traction finding that expatriate students faced pretty distinct challenges. First, there’s this sense of loneliness—feeling like you don’t quite belong because, well, you’re navigating not just a new educational culture but sometimes even a new country. For many students, it was also the first time they were navigating life as an individual. Even opening a back account, and buying groceries for the first time.

Dr. Louise Lambert

Cultural adjustment was another hurdle. Many students come from education systems with rote learning or super rigid expectations, and now they’re expected to suddenly embrace independent thinking, group work, and even defend their ideas. It’s a big leap. Add to that language barriers, and you’ve got students who feel, quite literally, lost in translation, socially and academically.

Dr. Louise Lambert

But here’s the pot of gold, we also asked what made them happy? It wasn't what universities thought to offer. It wasn't more mental health counseling, or services. it was assistance. These students said, loud and clear, "We want relationships. We want connection." Whether it’s hanging out with friends, meaningful group projects, classroom activities, social events, or just sharing a laugh in class, being socially connected was their biggest driver of happiness. What's more, they wanted faculty, staff and other adults to help them do it. So easy and yet, the one thing that gets overlooked because we think they are adults, they will figure it out. What these students were saying was, actually, can you help with that and introduce me to someone?

Dr. Louise Lambert

But universities can be a bit, well, paternalistic about all this. You know—deciding what students need without even asking. And when they do ask, what they find is often worlds apart from what they’ve been offering. Universities might offer stress-management workshops, but students are saying, "Hey, we need more opportunities to connect. Help us meet people. Help us belong."

Dr. Louise Lambert

Real solutions? They start with listening, truly listening. Collaborative learning projects, inclusive events—both inside and outside the classroom—and supporting moments where students can build genuine relationships. These are not just ‘nice-to-haves.’ They could utterly transform how students experience university.

Dr. Louise Lambert

So, what does this mean for universities. First, this is beyond offering a better academic experience. We’re talking about overhauling student wellbeing as not just an optional add-on but a core part of the university’s structure that is reflected in the classroom through positive psychology infused curriculum in language, social studies, and science as much as economics. Picture courses that teach resilience, emotional regulation, or even financial literacy—all embedded within their degrees, not some ‘extra’ workshop or classes that bear no credit. It's also about building more human connection between students, as well as with faculty and staff. That hierarchy is not always so conducive to feeling a sense of belonging.

Dr. Louise Lambert

And speaking of which, the faculty! These are the people shaping young minds, yet they’re often stressed, unsupported, and socially isolated themselves. I’ve worked in academia, and let me tell you, I’ve never seen a lonelier place. Universities need to show explicit care for their faculty and staff, not just pile on admin tasks and watch the sick leave accumulate as burnout grows. Faculty and staff also need to feel seen, appreciated and heard. And they also need the skills for greater wellbeing so that everyone is signing from the same songsheet, but also for students to experience its outcomes at their hands.

Dr. Louise Lambert

So, what does it all come down to? Institutions need to recognize wellbeing as an essential investment. Listen to your students, care for your faculty, and give them tangible, explicit tools not just to survive and get through to the next semester, but to truly thrive and live well thereafter. Happiness isn’t a luxury—it’s the foundation of a good life. And that should be the legacy of every university: graduating students that are skilled in their domains, as much as in navigating the challenges and opportunities of life. Creating happier, healthier universities isn’t just a wishlist—it’s doable, with the right leadership driving it.

Dr. Louise Lambert

On that note, let's end here for today. Thanks for taking an interest in these podcasts, and if you know of someone who might benefit or you think I should get in touch with, just reach out. Until then, enjoy the day!