How to Enhance Students’ Well-Being in Spain: A Multidimensional Study based on Multiobjective Optimization

Abstract

This paper addresses the multidimensional nature of the concept of student well-being from a multiple criteria decision making perspective, specifically differentiating between the social, physical, and mental dimensions. The main purpose is to analyze how the wellbeing levels among Spanish students could be improved. Using PISA 2022 data, three indexes of student well-being are constructed: social, physical and mental. Using econometric tools, a multiobjective optimization model is developed to simultaneously maximize the three proposed indexes. The resulting analysis makes it possible to evaluate the real possibilities for improving the three well-being dimensions and the scenarios that would make it possible (i.e., socio-educational context for the students). It allows foreseeing the impact of the change in one of the indexes on the other two. In addition, existing correlations between students' socio-educational characteristics are introduced into the model to represent the student’s context as realistically as possible. The results indicate that students who seek to optimize their well-being from the triple perspective adopted (physical, social, and mental) must make trade-offs between the indicators in order to achieve a balanced solution.