START DATE AND DURATION: 2020 - 2023Mental wellbeing at work is a key area of interest for policymakers, researchers and organisations. However, only recently have researchers started to examine the impact of working in academia on their own mental health (MH) and wellbeing. Whilst working in academia can be intellectually stimulating and flexible, excessive workloads, a sense of inequality, job precarity and pressure to secure funding can negatively impact MH, causing capable researchers to leave academia.
To improve researchers’ wellbeing and retain the workforce, we need to understand researchers’ experiences and needs. This study examined the literature, and interviewed researchers, and senior management from UK universities/research funding organisations, about their experiences and support needs, and views on academic policy and culture.
Through utilising systematic reviewing of the literature, individual interviews, and survey methodology, the PhD will address this aim and go on to create general policy recommendations for UK universities and the wider higher education system. This will help to effectively support researchers in managing pre-existing or emerging difficulties with their mental health and wellbeing.
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