A Pervasive, Yet Rectifiable Taboo: Addressing the Mental Health Challenges of International Doctoral Students in STEM Fields

Open discussions about international students' mental health challenges remain a taboo in U.S. doctoral education. The taboo nature of mental health is especially powerful in doctoral environments which celebrate “grit,” resilience, and self‐sufficiency while either tacitly or openly discouraging students from seeking help. This qualitative study investigates the taboo of international doctoral students' mental health challenges by drawing upon multiple interviews with eight international doctoral students working in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields at a U.S. research university. Data pertaining to mental health challenges point to four themes: (1) cultural isolation and displacement, (2) financial insecurity, (3) advising relationships, and (4) support networks. Analysing data through the lens of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, this article then argues that institutions must consider how to address students' challenges on all five levels—micro, meso, exo, macro, and chrono—to destigmatize the taboo of mental health in doctoral education.