Welcome to the Academia Toolkit
The Academia Worker Toolkit was developed using a two-pronged approach: 1) information about existing interventions from the academic literature and internet searches and 2) what we heard and learned from research participants in our worker surveys, worker interviews, and stakeholder interviews.
Review of Existing Interventions
Our research team reviewed existing academic literature and conducted internet searches for 1) interventions that were developed specifically for academia and 2) generic interventions from reputable sources that could potentially be tailored for use in academia.
HPW Worker Surveys
As part of a larger study of Canadian professional workers, 379 academics completed a survey about their experiences with mental health, leaves of absences, and return to work between November 2020 and May 2021.
60% (n = 226) reported having experienced a mental health issue over the course of their career or training.
Of these 226 academics, many made changes to their work and considered taking a leave of absence, but only 23% (n = 53) actually took a leave of absence.
HPW Worker and Stakeholder Interviews
Our research team conducted in-depth interviews with workers and stakeholders, in French or English between January and July 2021, addressing mental health, leaves of absence, and return to work pathways in academia. We conducted 34 interviews with academic workers with a range of characteristics and 18 interviews with a range of stakeholders, representing interests of unions, professional associations, supervisors/managers, universities, insurers, and those representing cross-cutting expertise.
Evidence-Informed Interventions
Our research team curated information on existing interventions and generated ideas from our own research for academic-specific interventions that take into consideration the unique environment and challenges in the academic profession and culture. These ideas for not (yet) existing interventions are intended to spur further discussion and empirical research aimed at developing interventions focusing on structural rather than individual-level change.
HPW Featured Resources
Getting Rid of Stupid Stuff
Getting Rid of Stupid Stuff was developed as an intervention to address burdensome and unncessary work tasks and processes (e.g., electronic health record tasks) that contribute to burnout in physicians and other clinicians. Although the work of academics differs from that of clinicians, this form of department-level intervention could also be considered to reduce workload in academia.
Crucial Conversations
Effective communication is essential for success in any workplace, as it can help build relationships, increase productivity, and create a positive work environment.Crucial Conversations is a course that teaches nine powerful skills for working through disagreement to achieve better results.
Universities depend on the people they employ in order to function, and it is unavoidable that people will experience illness whether for physical or mental health reasons. Salary paid to employees who are away from work needs to be factored into university budgets such that funds are available to pay replacement staff.