Volume 18, Number 2

Bereavement in Higher Education: Rethinking Student Wellbeing Through Digital and AI-Supported Approaches

  Authors

Sara Krshinar, Zlate Bogoevski and Danijela Efnusheva, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Macedonia

  Abstract

Bereavement is a common yet often overlooked aspect of student life in higher education. While student wellbeing has received increasing attention in recent years, grief is still rarely addressed as a distinct factor shaping students’ academic engagement, participation, and sense of belonging. The paper presents a narrative review methodology of existing literature, bringing together perspectives from education, psychology, and digital mental health. It examines how experiences of loss influence students’ academic lives and explores the potential and limitations of digitally mediated forms of support, including emerging AI-based approaches. The findings highlight that bereavement remains insufficiently conceptualized and inconsistently addressed within higher education research and practice. Furthermore, current support systems often fail to reflect the complexity and diversity of students’ lived experiences. In response, the paper emphasizes the need for more participatory, student-centered, and design-oriented approaches that align with contemporary digital environments. Overall, the paper shows that a more nuanced and contextsensitive understanding of bereavement is essential for developing effective, inclusive, and scalable support systems in higher education.

  Keywords

Bereavement, Higher Education, Student Wellbeing, Digital Mental Health, Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots