Digital Wellbeing as a Measure of HEI Quality

How do we measure the growth of an institution? Traditionally, growth has been expressed in years, numbers, and size — the length of time an institution has existed, the expansion of its buildings, the increase in schools and departments, or the swelling numbers of faculty and students. These markers certainly add weight and aura, sometimes even prestige. Yet, the quality of growth of a Higher Education Institution (HEI) cannot be captured merely through its physical footprint or numerical strength.

True growth lies in the quality it sustains, the reputation it builds, and the impact it creates for students, faculty, and society at large. Classical parameters such as academic yield, scholarly output, public reputation, and community engagement have long provided meaningful measures of institutional excellence. These remain essential, for they ground institutions in their academic credibility and social responsibility.

At the same time, the landscape of higher education is undergoing profound change. With Gen Z entering our campuses — a generation deeply shaped by smartphones, social media, and tech-saturated lives — institutions face new challenges that cannot be ignored. As Jonathan Haidt argues in 'The Anxious Generation', the realities of constant connectivity, fragile mental health, and shrinking real-world opportunities demand fresh responses. If quality is to remain relevant, it must be defined not only by academic performance but also by an institution’s ability to nurture balance, resilience, and wellbeing in its students. Hence the following effort to list parameters which can measure quality of an HEI from the Gen Z mental health perspective, drawing on Haidt's observations. 

Observation 1: Overexposure to smartphones reduces attention spans and undermines classroom learning.

Quality Parameter: Digital Discipline in Learning Environments

A Gen Z HEI should be evaluated on how well it regulates device use, integrates phones/laptops purposefully into learning, and simultaneously creates phone-free spaces that preserve student focus.

Observation 2: Early and heavy use of social media is linked to anxiety, depression, and poor self-image.

Quality Parameter: Mental Health & Wellbeing Infrastructure

HEIs must provide strong counselling services, awareness campaigns, and preventive measures addressing digital stress. Quality is seen in how mental wellbeing is normalized, resourced, and integrated into campus life.

Observation 3: Children and youth lack opportunities for free, unsupervised play and real-world exploration.

Quality Parameter: Experiential & Play-Based Opportunities

Quality HEIs create opportunities for unstructured socialization, outdoor activity, and independent exploration through clubs, sports, service-learning, and creative spaces — counterbalancing screen-based engagement.

Observation 4: Constant connectivity reduces sleep quality, resilience, and capacity for deep work.

Quality Parameter: Culture of Healthy Boundaries

Institutions should model and encourage practices such as device-free times, email curfews, and digital detox programmes. HEIs that cultivate respect for boundaries between academic, digital, and personal life demonstrate higher quality.

Observation 5: Tech culture is shaped largely by corporate incentives, leaving students vulnerable unless collective norms are established.

Quality Parameter: Policy & Community Engagement

Quality Gen Z HEIs engage actively in shaping policy and norms around digital use — working with parents, industry, and regulators to advocate for healthier ecosystems. Institutions become role models by leading collective action.

Observation 6: Reliance on algorithm-driven feeds narrows thinking and reduces original creativity.

Quality Parameter: Scholarship Beyond Screens

A high-quality HEI encourages intellectual diversity, fosters critical debate, and provides students with spaces for deep, screen-free inquiry. Research, innovation, and scholarship are framed as ways to reclaim independence of thought.

Observation 7: Homogeneity in academic culture can worsen blind spots in addressing tech’s social impacts.

Quality Parameter: Diversity of Perspectives in Governance & Faculty

Institutions that recruit across disciplines and geographies, and invite voices from psychology, ethics, sociology, and digital studies, ensure their students receive richer, more holistic preparation for the challenges of the tech age.

Framing HEI quality through the lens of Haidt’s observations reminds us that education is not only about transmitting knowledge but also about shaping whole persons. A Gen Z-sensitive institution is one that takes seriously the risks of a tech-saturated world while equipping students with the skills, balance, and resilience to thrive within it. Such institutions redefine growth by integrating digital wellbeing into their academic, social, and cultural fabric. In doing so, they move beyond the narrow pursuit of grades or rankings and position themselves as true guardians of the next generation’s future.

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Babu. P. K., Ph D.