Academic Stress Among Built Environment Students: An Examination of Key Stressors and Coping Mechanisms

• Identifies and ranks critical academic stressors and coping mechanisms among built environment students in Ghana. • Uncovers eight principal components of stressors and four core coping strategy dimensions using exploratory factor analysis. • Applies a robust methodological approach combining normalization, EFA, and fuzzy synthetic evaluation. • Develops a practical framework aligning stressors with institutional support mechanisms. • Offers actionable insights for improving student wellbeing and academic success in construction education. Academic stress remains a significant challenge for students in practice-oriented disciplines, where intensive academic demands intersect with applied learning requirements. This study investigates the key stressors and coping mechanisms among built environment students in Ghana, with the aim of identifying the most critical factors shaping their stress experiences and adaptive responses. A quantitative survey of 314 students was analysed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and fuzzy synthetic evaluation. The findings reveal that academic workload and institutional pressures constitute the most significant sources of stress, followed by performance-related anxiety and financial constraints. At the individual level, coursework overload and fear of failure emerge as the dominant stressors, underscoring the high-stakes nature of professional education. In response, students predominantly adopt proactive coping strategies, particularly planning, time management, and task structuring, alongside attention to physical wellbeing. Notably, religious practice aligns with proactive coping, highlighting the influence of cultural context on coping behaviour. The study further demonstrates that stress experiences are structured across distinct but interrelated dimensions, with varying levels of criticality. These findings provide important implications for universities and policymakers seeking to design targeted, context-sensitive interventions that enhance student wellbeing and academic performance. While grounded in a single institutional context, the study offers transferable insights for similar practice-oriented educational environments.