WELL-BEING AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND POSSIBILITIES FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT

From numerous researches and different theoretical approaches, well-being is considered as an umbrella term that covers different aspects. According to the World Health Organization, “Well-being is a state in which the individual realizes their potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to contribute to their community.” (cited in Wistoft, 2012:1) Due to its multidimensional nature, literature speaks about the emotional, social, pedagogical and psychological well-being. In the educational context, students’ well-being is important, since it contributes to students’ overall positive perspective of life, feelings of joy and optimism, but it also has a positive influence on achieving better academic results. The aim of this paper is to examine the level of the psychological subjective well-being among university students in regards to six different dimensions and to explore students’ opinions about the possibilities that the university can offer for the purpose of improving students’ well-being. The survey was conducted on a sample of 106 students at International Balkan University in Skopje, North Macedonia. Results have shown that students have a moderate level of psychological subjective well-being, with the highest score in the Personal growth and the lowest in the Positive relations with other subscales. Based on their opinions, recommendations for improvement are given. They refer to four main aspects: Curriculum interventions, Leisure activities, Social activities and Counseling services.