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
Mental Health in the Workplace
In addition to workplace programs to prevent mental health problems and to intervene when employees show signs of struggling, it is also important for organizations to provide return-to-work and stay-at-work accommodations for employees experiencing mental ill-health. This article discusses the importance of accommodations and reviews existing research findings in the context of workplace mental health programming.
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.
Faculty Burnout is Real and Cannot be Wished Away
This podcast episode discuses some of the key drivers leading to faculty burnout, such as weak workplace culture that contributes to a perception of an unsupportive work environment . They offer strategies for training deans and department chairs to be more effective at managing the issue.
Budgeting for Employee Absences
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.
Distress Postcard
A distress postcard with the university numbers on who to call for assistance on matters related to mental health crises can be distributed throughout the university.
HR Checklist
The concept for an HR checklist is for HR staff to have a procedure to follow when contacted by faculty or staff who are ill or experiencing a major life event that is causing distress.
Dragonfly Mental Health
Evidence based programs created by academics in the form of seminars, tailored specifically to address mental health in academia. They have identified five domains of excellence in cultivating a health workplace in an academic setting including mental health literacy, fighting stigma, peer networks, dept. committees, and skills training.
Not Myself Today
CMHA’s Not Myself Today workplace mental health programs, to build greater awareness about mental health, reduce stigma and to foster safe working cultures. This program is not intended to provide mental services directly to employees but instead geared towards the university administration or department to provide "turn key activities, and printed materials" and access to a members portal to create prorams that benefit the workplace at large.
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.