Research & data
For beauty schools.The white paper
Prioritizing wellness in beauty education: student success and instructor retention. Pivot Point International polled over 700 beauty school students and over 200 instructors, in partnership with the Vitality Project.
research & data
For beauty schools.
The white paper
Prioritizing wellness in beauty education: student success and instructor retention. Pivot Point International polled over 700 beauty school students and over 200 instructors, in partnership with the Vitality Project.
research & data
For beauty schools.
The white paper
Prioritizing wellness in beauty education: student success and instructor retention. Pivot Point International polled over 700 beauty school students and over 200 instructors, in partnership with the Vitality Project.
The research
Prioritizing wellness in beauty education
Student success and instructor retention.Pivot Point International polled over 700 beauty school students and over 200 beauty school instructors, using quantitative data and open-ended comments. The primary focus was social and mental health, with physical and financial health captured as well, for a holistic view of well-being in the beauty school environment. A partnership with the Vitality Project supported the research.
Executive summary
Wellness is now a central concern for beauty schools
It directly influences the success and sustainability of their programs. For students, challenges such as mental health struggles, financial stress and social pressures can disrupt classroom engagement and hinder their ability to graduate. For instructors, these same pressures, combined with the demands of guiding students, contribute to burnout and create significant challenges for retaining skilled educators.
The lasting effects of the pandemic have made addressing wellness more urgent than ever. The return to in-person learning has brought new emotional and social challenges for students, while the influence of social media continues to amplify stress and self-comparison in this highly visual industry. Generational differences between students and educators have added layers of complexity to communication and collaboration within the classroom.
Student wellness
Both students and instructors recognize wellness as a significant factor influencing students’ progress toward becoming beauty professionals. Struggles with mental health, financial stress and social challenges directly affect students’ ability to actively engage in class and perform academically, ultimately impacting their journey to graduation.
Instructor wellness
Educators face mounting challenges in an ever-changing educational landscape. They must navigate complex post-pandemic social and emotional dynamics, adapt to rapid technological advancements and bridge generational communication gaps with their students. These pressures highlight the urgent need to prioritize instructor well-being as a key strategy to improve engagement and address the ongoing shortage of qualified educators.
Access to wellness resources
Both students and instructors express a strong need for access to wellness tools and resources. While nearly all instructors emphasize the importance of supporting student wellness, many feel current resources are insufficient to meet these needs effectively, underscoring an opportunity for schools to invest in better solutions.
Findings · Student wellness
These challenges don’t stay outside the classroom
Students and instructors both identified wellness challenges as making the journey to becoming a professional more difficult. Both agree that these issues make students less interested in completing school or taking the state boards.
What students say they experience
What mental and physical health challenges do you personally experience, if any? Select all that apply.
Overall, 80% of students say they struggle with some form of mental health issue, 48% with financial issues and 47% with some form of physical challenge.
What instructors see their students facing
What mental and physical health challenges have you observed your students facing? Select all that apply.
While instructors agree that student mental health issues are most critical, they rate financial, family, relationship and personal safety issues significantly higher than their students do.
Findings · Instructor wellness
Instructors face unprecedented challenges
Beyond the traditional demands of teaching, they navigate a complex mix of social and emotional issues that students bring into the classroom. The post-pandemic environment, rapid and often disruptive technological advancements and evolving student-instructor dynamics, marked by shifts in respect, communication and expectations, add new layers of complexity to their role. These underscore the importance of prioritizing and supporting instructor well-being, particularly within beauty schools grappling with a shortage of qualified educators.
What instructors say they personally face: work-life balance, stress management and burnout, anxiety, financial issues, industry-related health concerns, nutrition, depression, lack of school culture or leadership support, and family, relationship or personal safety issues.
In their own words
“What is the most challenging aspect of being an educator you are currently struggling with?”
“Balancing burnout and personal stress caused by constant demands.”
Beauty school instructor“Anxiety and emotional fatigue stemming from supporting students’ struggles.”
Beauty school instructor“It can be stressful when students share their struggles with me. They go through traumatic things that I haven’t ever experienced, so to be trained on how to handle or coach them would be nice.”
Beauty school instructor“Not having the time for myself to make sure I can grade, access, work with individual students, and be able to do the ‘paperwork’ aspect of an educator.”
Beauty school instructor“When students don’t have the language to be transparent enough to talk to educators. How to handle their attitude so it doesn’t affect any other students.”
Beauty school instructor“Energy is hard to keep high and positive when there are disruptions and students going through their own issues and bringing them to class.”
Beauty school instructor“The reality that we are teaching humans that all face daily life challenges, and most of our students are without basic support systems, let alone any mental health therapies.”
Beauty school instructor“Multiple students facing a variety of crises away from the school which is having a direct effect on their education and attendance in school.”
Beauty school instructor“So many of our students struggle, and we aren’t able to help due to a lack of resources. I’d love if we could have a therapist or someone to help our students.”
Beauty school instructor“Lack of support & awareness from leadership.”
Beauty school instructorFindings · Wellness resources
Everyone wants the tools. Few have them.
Both students and instructors were asked which wellness resources and tools they would find most valuable, providing insights into how schools can foster a supportive environment. While instructors were mixed on the availability of resources, virtually all were interested in having tools available.
What students say would help
Which of the following would help support your physical, mental and emotional well-being at school? Select all that apply.
Also named: a wellness advisor, access to wellness materials and guides, and access to therapy information.
How students and instructors rank the tools
Rank the following tools in order of how much they would help support your wellness and success.
- Stress management training
- Student wellness programs
- Trauma awareness coaching training for teachers
- Access to more professional development
- Resource materials for personal and professional wellness
- Access to therapy information that can be used outside the classroom
Companion research · The professional beauty community
The same story after graduation
In a companion study, Pivot Point surveyed licensed, actively working cosmetologists. 91% reported facing at least one wellness-related challenge, primarily work-life balance, mental health concerns such as stress, anxiety and depression, physical health issues and financial pressures. These struggles affect workplace attendance, engagement and relationships with co-workers and clients, reducing motivation and, in some cases, leading professionals to leave their jobs or the industry altogether.
Wellness information and references
Pivot Point wellness resources
- Wellness Research, Schools
- Wellness Research, Professionals
- The Vitality Project
- Pivot Point Fundamentals Wellness Curriculum: Healthy Mind and Body, Ergonomics, Basic Communication, Communicate With Confidence, Human Relations, Resilience
- Shear Haven Domestic Violence Awareness Guide
- Industry Wellness Resources
- Diversity and Inclusion Resources
Beauty industry wellness resources
- Beyond the Chair
- Confess Project
- Cosmetologists United
- Dresscode Project
- Hair Has No Gender
- Hair Love Retreat / The Vitality Project
- Head Up
- Professional Beauty Association
- SalonCentric Retreat
- Sensory Space Salon
General wellness resources
- Mental Health America
- National Institute of Mental Health
- Anxiety and Depression Association of America
- Mental Health First Aid
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
- The Sanctuary Challenge
- IDONTMIND
Mental health research cited in the paper: McKinsey on Gen Z behavioral health; the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on economic stress, technology and Gen Z mental health; Emory University Rollins School of Public Health on social media and Gen Z; the Annie E. Casey Foundation, reporting nearly two-thirds of Gen Z have experienced at least one mental health problem in the past two years; the American Psychological Association, on Gen Z rating their mental health as fair or poor more often than older generations; the RAND Corporation’s 2023 report on teacher well-being remaining below pre-pandemic levels; and Lyra on mental health trends in the workplace.
Other research
Outside the Pivot Point study
Separately cited, not part of the Pivot Point white paper. Research on wellness, mental health, social-emotional learning and mindfulness in education.
A meta-analysis of 213 school-based social and emotional learning programs found an 11 percentile-point gain in academic achievement, alongside improved behavior and reduced emotional distress.
Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor and Schellinger, Child Development, 2011A meta-analysis of mindfulness-based interventions in schools reported gains in cognitive performance and resilience to stress among students.
Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz and Walach, Frontiers in Psychology, 2014RAND’s State of the American Teacher surveys found teachers roughly twice as likely as other working adults to report frequent job-related stress, with well-being still below pre-pandemic levels.
RAND Corporation, State of the American Teacher, 2022 and 2023According to Vitality Project members, burnout symptoms begin within the first 2 to 4 years of a beauty career in many cases. Students who receive wellness education before entering the industry are better equipped to recognize and prevent early burnout.
Vitality Project member survey and school case study dataThese citations are from published sources outside the Pivot Point paper and should be checked against the originals before print use.
The bottom line
Wellness is no longer a secondary issue. It is vital for students to complete their programs and for schools to keep dedicated educators. Schools that address it head-on build more resilient communities, manage risk and send better-prepared professionals into the industry.
Download our research report
Prioritizing Wellness in Beauty Education: Student Success and Instructor Retention. The Pivot Point International white paper, in partnership with the Vitality Project.
Download the report
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