The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) is pioneering a significant initiative to enhance student wellbeing. Beginning in August 2024, SSE will introduce a comprehensive crash course in happiness and wellbeing for all new bachelor students, marking a global first.
In October 2023, SSE inaugurated its Center for Wellbeing, Welfare, and Happiness, under the leadership of Micael Dahlen, the world’s first Professor of Happiness, Wellbeing, and Welfare. The Center aspires to position Sweden as a leading authority in wellness and happiness research, driving global efforts towards a more joyful and prosperous society. Integral to this vision, SSE will embed happiness into the curriculum for incoming bachelor students starting in the fall semester of 2024.
The pioneering crash course, based on SSE’s highly popular elective “Happiness and Wellbeing: Making a Better Life,” will take place at the school’s conference center near Sigtuna. Over 360 new students will engage in the course in groups, each spending 24 hours at the center. This initiative aims to set a positive tone for their academic journey at SSE.
Integrating Wellbeing into Economic Education
The course will equip students with tools to contextualize their studies within broader life perspectives, emphasizing sustainable personal development and contributions to overall welfare and happiness. Group activities and individual assignments, both during the course and throughout the first year, will encourage students to reflect on and set personal and academic goals centered around wellbeing.
Professor Micael Dahlen expressed enthusiasm for the initiative, noting its potential to enhance students’ immediate and long-term wellbeing, with positive impacts extending beyond the academic environment.
For current students, the elective “Happiness and Wellbeing: Making a Better Life” remains available for third-year students. Additionally, from the spring semester of 2025, a mandatory course on wellbeing will be introduced for Retail Management students enrolled from 2023 onward.
Commitment to Long-Term Wellbeing
SSE President Lars Strannegård emphasized the importance of investing in student wellbeing, not only to support their academic success but also to foster a commitment to creating a sustainable and healthy world. By integrating wellbeing into the academic and professional development of its students, SSE aims to cultivate future leaders who prioritize welfare and happiness.
As part of this initiative, SSE will measure students’ happiness throughout their studies, starting with the crash course. Another ongoing project will assess the happiness of SSE alumni, aiming to understand the long-term impacts of career and life choices on wellbeing.
This groundbreaking approach by the Stockholm School of Economics highlights the institution’s dedication to promoting holistic education that values mental and emotional health as much as academic achievement.
Source: Stockholm School of Economics –