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Research Handbook of Academic Mental Health
There has been much recent commentary regarding a ‘crisis’ in academic mental health and wellbeing. This Research Handbook showcases cutting-edge studies and insightful narratives on the wellbeing of doctoral students, early career researchers, and faculty members, illuminating the current state of academic mental health research. Importantly, authors also offer potential solutions to the increasingly poor mental health reported by those working and studying in the higher education sector.
More Information
Contents
More Information
There has been much recent commentary regarding a ‘crisis’ in academic mental health and wellbeing. This Research Handbook showcases cutting-edge studies and insightful narratives on the wellbeing of doctoral students, early career researchers, and faculty members, illuminating the current state of academic mental health research. Importantly, authors also offer potential solutions to the increasingly poor mental health reported by those working and studying in the higher education sector.
Across 30 chapters, the authors discuss vital and underexplored issues within the field, including the mental ill health of historically marginalized students, growing concerns about the work–life balance of faculty, and the unique struggles of non-tenured faculty. The editors conclude with an agenda for future research and practical recommendations for different stakeholders, with particular attention to actions that must come from university leaders.
Timely and essential reading, this Research Handbook is crucial for doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty and support staff of any discipline as well as senior leaders in higher education. Collectively, the authors demonstrate that urgent action is needed to address long-standing systemic issues in universities to improve mental health and wellbeing in future.
Across 30 chapters, the authors discuss vital and underexplored issues within the field, including the mental ill health of historically marginalized students, growing concerns about the work–life balance of faculty, and the unique struggles of non-tenured faculty. The editors conclude with an agenda for future research and practical recommendations for different stakeholders, with particular attention to actions that must come from university leaders.
Timely and essential reading, this Research Handbook is crucial for doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty and support staff of any discipline as well as senior leaders in higher education. Collectively, the authors demonstrate that urgent action is needed to address long-standing systemic issues in universities to improve mental health and wellbeing in future.
Contents
Contents
Introduction and historical review 1
Marissa S. Edwards, Lauren E. Cox, Angela J. Martin and Neal M. Ashkanasy
PART I NARRATIVES AND PERSPECTIVES
1 “I realised that, if I am dead, I cannot finish my PhD!”: a narrative
ethnography of psychological capital in academia 32
Lynette Pretorius
2 The impact of completing a doctorate as an older person in a global
pandemic and the steps taken to protect my mental health and wellbeing 48
Gill Harvey
3 A mask that eats the face: neurotypicality and autistic doctoral researchers 64
Bobbie Jay White, Claire O’Neill and C.J. Griffin
4 The invisible, yet dangerous mental health crisis among historically
marginalized graduate and professional students 78
Evelyn Vázquez
5 Overcoming impostor syndrome: an intercultural response to PhD
candidature during the COVID-19 pandemic 95
Citra Amelia, Alistair Welsh, Monika Winarnita and Ramón López Castellano
6 An unrecognized avenue for academia’s most vulnerable:
conceptualizing rescue supervision in the third space 110
Joshua Wang, Kristy Winter and Hayley Moody
7 “PhD is a personal individual struggle … but you don’t have to struggle
alone”: supervisors’ perspectives of international scholars’ wellbeing 124
Dely Lazarte Elliot, Sally Ohlsen, Kay Guccione, Robert A. Daley and Chris
Blackmore
8 Advocating for better academic mental health: our journeys and lessons
from lived experience 140
Zoë J. Ayres and Marissa S. Edwards
9 ‘Smelly Velcro Cat’: a narrative of managing obsessive compulsive
‘disorder’, generalised anxiety ‘disorder’, depression and an academic career 154
Louise Oldridge
10 Academic precarity and mental health: reviewing the domains of
precarity “of”, “at”, and “from” work 168
Austin Chia, Lara Mossman and Alexandra Louise Johnston
11 Acknowledging diversity: exploring the lived experience of casual academics 181
Ellie Meissner, Katrina Radford, Ashleigh Schweinsberg, Diana Sheldon,
James Holder, Elena King and Caroline Kasputtis
12 The ‘other’ in academia: the mental health of women in masculinized
institutions in Central and Eastern Europe 195
Anna M. Górska
13 Student evaluations and the impact on academic mental health 211
Troy Heffernan and Kelly-Ann Allen
14 Becoming and being an academic: the negative impact of profession on
early career academic mental health 227
Victoria Lister and Katharina Spaeth
15 Adverse health experiences narrated by university staff leaving during
the COVID-19 pandemic 242
A. Ian Glendon
16 Locating academic staff wellbeing within the organization: the interplay
between personality, workload and burnout among academic staff 261
Konstantina Paitaridou, Olga Lainidi and Anthony Montgomery
17 Work–life balance and wellbeing in academic employees 276
Gail Kinman
PART II STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS
18 Wellbeing in the curriculum: opportunities and challenges for higher education 291
Jessica F. Surdey and Deirdre Byrne
19 Doctoral students’ mental health and well-being: what we know and
what we can do 307
Anna Sverdlik
20 Proactive, systemic approach for faculty/staff support of (graduate)
student wellbeing 325
Nicole L. Hacker
21 Tools for improving academic mental health and holistic wellbeing 347
Shira Tarrant
22 Finding self through acts of creativity 361
Caitlin Kight and Narelle Lemon
23 Work passion and academic wellbeing 380
Jennifer Ann L. Lajom, Laramie R. Tolentino, Anna Sverdlik, Rebecca
Mitchell and Robert J. Vallerand
24 Navigating academic mental health and wellbeing, a case for resilience?
Lessons for higher education using an ‘academic-centered approach’ 394
Karishma Jivraj
25 It takes a village: how peer coaching groups can support mental health
in academia 409
Roman Terekhin
26 Empowering university leaders, staff, and graduates for mental health
action in higher education 421
Christine Grove, Jason Skues, Kelly-Ann Allen, Alexandra Marinucci, Kerryn
Butler-Henderson and Salma Arabi
27 Creating a sense of belonging in academia: challenges, facilitators, and
implications for university leaders, staff and graduate students 436
Kelly-Ann Allen, Margaret L. Kern, Jonathan Reardon, Joseph Crawford,
Christopher D. Slaten, Troy Heffernan, Lan Ma, Christine Grove and Steven
Roberts
28 Understanding academic workloads through HRM systems: choosing
between the bottom line and a healthy sustainable workforce 459
Fiona Archontoulis, Keith Townsend and Rebecca Loudoun
29 The ARK program: a participatory organizational health intervention
and development of meaning at work and work to home conflict over
time for academics in Norway 475
Marit Christensen, Silje Fossum Fladmark, Josefina Peláez Zuberbühler, Siw
Tone Innstrand and Karina Nielsen
30 The landscape of mental health in higher education: the current state
and where to next? 493
Lauren E. Cox, Angela J. Martin, Jo Bishop, Olav Muurlink and Allison
Mandrusiak
Conclusion 516
Angela J. Martin, Neal M. Ashkanasy, Marissa S. Edwards and Lauren E. Cox
Introduction and historical review 1
Marissa S. Edwards, Lauren E. Cox, Angela J. Martin and Neal M. Ashkanasy
PART I NARRATIVES AND PERSPECTIVES
1 “I realised that, if I am dead, I cannot finish my PhD!”: a narrative
ethnography of psychological capital in academia 32
Lynette Pretorius
2 The impact of completing a doctorate as an older person in a global
pandemic and the steps taken to protect my mental health and wellbeing 48
Gill Harvey
3 A mask that eats the face: neurotypicality and autistic doctoral researchers 64
Bobbie Jay White, Claire O’Neill and C.J. Griffin
4 The invisible, yet dangerous mental health crisis among historically
marginalized graduate and professional students 78
Evelyn Vázquez
5 Overcoming impostor syndrome: an intercultural response to PhD
candidature during the COVID-19 pandemic 95
Citra Amelia, Alistair Welsh, Monika Winarnita and Ramón López Castellano
6 An unrecognized avenue for academia’s most vulnerable:
conceptualizing rescue supervision in the third space 110
Joshua Wang, Kristy Winter and Hayley Moody
7 “PhD is a personal individual struggle … but you don’t have to struggle
alone”: supervisors’ perspectives of international scholars’ wellbeing 124
Dely Lazarte Elliot, Sally Ohlsen, Kay Guccione, Robert A. Daley and Chris
Blackmore
8 Advocating for better academic mental health: our journeys and lessons
from lived experience 140
Zoë J. Ayres and Marissa S. Edwards
9 ‘Smelly Velcro Cat’: a narrative of managing obsessive compulsive
‘disorder’, generalised anxiety ‘disorder’, depression and an academic career 154
Louise Oldridge
10 Academic precarity and mental health: reviewing the domains of
precarity “of”, “at”, and “from” work 168
Austin Chia, Lara Mossman and Alexandra Louise Johnston
11 Acknowledging diversity: exploring the lived experience of casual academics 181
Ellie Meissner, Katrina Radford, Ashleigh Schweinsberg, Diana Sheldon,
James Holder, Elena King and Caroline Kasputtis
12 The ‘other’ in academia: the mental health of women in masculinized
institutions in Central and Eastern Europe 195
Anna M. Górska
13 Student evaluations and the impact on academic mental health 211
Troy Heffernan and Kelly-Ann Allen
14 Becoming and being an academic: the negative impact of profession on
early career academic mental health 227
Victoria Lister and Katharina Spaeth
15 Adverse health experiences narrated by university staff leaving during
the COVID-19 pandemic 242
A. Ian Glendon
16 Locating academic staff wellbeing within the organization: the interplay
between personality, workload and burnout among academic staff 261
Konstantina Paitaridou, Olga Lainidi and Anthony Montgomery
17 Work–life balance and wellbeing in academic employees 276
Gail Kinman
PART II STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS
18 Wellbeing in the curriculum: opportunities and challenges for higher education 291
Jessica F. Surdey and Deirdre Byrne
19 Doctoral students’ mental health and well-being: what we know and
what we can do 307
Anna Sverdlik
20 Proactive, systemic approach for faculty/staff support of (graduate)
student wellbeing 325
Nicole L. Hacker
21 Tools for improving academic mental health and holistic wellbeing 347
Shira Tarrant
22 Finding self through acts of creativity 361
Caitlin Kight and Narelle Lemon
23 Work passion and academic wellbeing 380
Jennifer Ann L. Lajom, Laramie R. Tolentino, Anna Sverdlik, Rebecca
Mitchell and Robert J. Vallerand
24 Navigating academic mental health and wellbeing, a case for resilience?
Lessons for higher education using an ‘academic-centered approach’ 394
Karishma Jivraj
25 It takes a village: how peer coaching groups can support mental health
in academia 409
Roman Terekhin
26 Empowering university leaders, staff, and graduates for mental health
action in higher education 421
Christine Grove, Jason Skues, Kelly-Ann Allen, Alexandra Marinucci, Kerryn
Butler-Henderson and Salma Arabi
27 Creating a sense of belonging in academia: challenges, facilitators, and
implications for university leaders, staff and graduate students 436
Kelly-Ann Allen, Margaret L. Kern, Jonathan Reardon, Joseph Crawford,
Christopher D. Slaten, Troy Heffernan, Lan Ma, Christine Grove and Steven
Roberts
28 Understanding academic workloads through HRM systems: choosing
between the bottom line and a healthy sustainable workforce 459
Fiona Archontoulis, Keith Townsend and Rebecca Loudoun
29 The ARK program: a participatory organizational health intervention
and development of meaning at work and work to home conflict over
time for academics in Norway 475
Marit Christensen, Silje Fossum Fladmark, Josefina Peláez Zuberbühler, Siw
Tone Innstrand and Karina Nielsen
30 The landscape of mental health in higher education: the current state
and where to next? 493
Lauren E. Cox, Angela J. Martin, Jo Bishop, Olav Muurlink and Allison
Mandrusiak
Conclusion 516
Angela J. Martin, Neal M. Ashkanasy, Marissa S. Edwards and Lauren E. Cox
