Support, Survival Skills, and Student Well-Being in Higher Education: A Structural Equation Model

Understanding how external environmental factors impact the well-being of ethnic minority university students is essential to fostering their successful integration and development in higher education settings. Investigating the relationship between socio-environmental support and subjective well-being, as well as the role that survival skills play as a mediator in this relationship, was the aim of this study. 469 university students from Sichuan Province who are members of ethnic minorities were given a questionnaire survey. The findings demonstrated that: (1) subjective well-being was significantly improved by socio-environmental support; (2) survival skills were significantly and favorably impacted by socio-environmental support, and that survival skills also significantly improved subjective well-being; and (3) survival skills played a significant partial mediating role between socio-environmental support and subjective well-being, accounting for 22.53% of the total effect. These results demonstrate that improving the subjective well-being of ethnic minority college students necessitates incorporating survival skills development into talent cultivation systems in addition to creating a four-dimensional support network that includes families, communities, schools, and online platforms. Their adaptability can be effectively strengthened, and sustainable well-being can be promoted by a dual-track strategy that combines "support enhancement" and "capacity building." Received: 09 December 2025 / Accepted: 19 April 2026 / Published: May 2026