Summary: Women who pursued higher education reported better overall psychological well-being, greater positive affect, and lower psychological distress.
Source: PLOS
Higher levels of education are associated with better mental well-being among Australian women, according to a study published March 24, 2021 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Dai Binh Tran and colleagues at Vietnamese-German University, Vietnam.
Research on the link between education and well-being has produced mixed results: some studies report clear benefits of education for mental health, while others find weaker or even negative associations. This study isolates the relationship for women in Australia, using a long-running national dataset to examine multiple dimensions of well-being and potential pathways that connect education to mental health outcomes.
The authors analyzed data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey covering 2002–2015. The HILDA Survey includes repeated measures of well-being and detailed information on education, health behaviors, social interactions, and household income, allowing for a comprehensive assessment of how education relates to different aspects of women’s well-being over time.
Well-being was measured across several dimensions: life satisfaction (for example, the respondent’s overall satisfaction with life); eudaimonic or psychological well-being (frequency of feelings such as worthlessness, hopelessness, unexplained fatigue, and perceiving life as effortful); psychological distress (symptoms such as profound sadness, restlessness, nervousness, and depression); positive affect (feelings of happiness, calmness, energy, and vitality); and negative affect (feelings of nervousness, low mood, exhaustion, or inability to be cheered up).
Education was measured by completed years of schooling. The researchers also considered a set of mediating factors that could explain how education influences well-being, including health behaviors (physical activity, smoking, alcohol use), frequency of social contact with friends and relatives, and household income.
Using the HILDA data, Tran and colleagues found that higher education was significantly associated with better outcomes on several well-being measures: greater psychological (eudaimonic) well-being, improved hedonic well-being, higher positive affect, and reduced psychological distress. These findings point to non-monetary benefits of education that extend beyond earnings or employment.
The analysis also showed that women with more education tended to engage in healthier behaviors (they were more physically active and less likely to smoke), maintained more frequent social interactions, and had higher household incomes than women with lower educational attainment. Statistical mediation analysis indicated that these factors—health behaviors, social connectedness, and income—account for a meaningful portion of the positive effect education has on women’s well-being in this sample.
The authors note important limitations: the study is restricted to women living in Australia and relies on self-reported, subjective measures of well-being. These constraints mean the findings may not generalize to men or to populations in other countries, and they depend on the accuracy of participants’ responses. Despite these caveats, the results support policies that promote educational access for women as a route to improved future well-being.
Because the positive association between education and well-being appears to operate in part through healthier lifestyles, stronger social networks, and higher household income, targeted public health campaigns and social programs could help reduce well-being disparities for women who have less formal education. Promoting physical activity, smoking cessation, social engagement, and economic supports may partially mitigate the well-being gap tied to lower educational attainment.
The authors conclude: “Education can improve women’s level of well-being and the effect is mediated by healthy behaviors. The promotion of education and public health campaigns are needed for women to achieve higher levels of future well-being.”
Funding: This research was funded by Vietnamese-German University under grant number DTCS2020-001. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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Source: PLOS
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Original Research: Open access. “The influence of education on women’s well-being: Evidence from Australia” by Dai Binh Tran et al., PLOS ONE (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247765)
Abstract
The influence of education on women’s well-being: Evidence from Australia
This study examines how women’s education relates to multiple dimensions of well-being using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. To address potential endogeneity, the authors use an instrumental variables approach, employing partners’ education as an instrument.
Results indicate that higher education leads to greater eudaimonic well-being, improved hedonic well-being, higher positive affect, and reduced psychological distress—highlighting education’s non-monetary benefits. The study also finds that the relationship between education and well-being is mediated by healthier behaviors (physical activity, lower smoking and alcohol use), more social interaction, and higher household income.
These findings suggest that continued promotion of education for women, together with public health initiatives that encourage healthy behaviors and social engagement, may help improve mental well-being and reduce disparities linked to lower formal education.