Differences in Student Well-Being Programs Across Top World Universities: A Comparative Study of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Programs
Seyedeh Asra Sajadia, Thomas G. Plante
Only four of the world's top universities offer a formal, ongoing Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, despite extensive evidence of its benefits. A systematic review of official webpages and documents from the top 10 universities per continent found highly uneven implementation: three in North America and one in Europe provide the standardized 8-week MBSR; 23 institutions offer non-standardized mindfulness alternatives, concentrated in North America and Australia; Asia, Africa, and South America show limited engagement with this Western model. The authors propose the Global MBSR Institutionalization Matrix (GMIM) and the F³ progression logic (Fidelity–Fit–Funding/Infrastructure) to analyze program fidelity and institutional embedding.