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
Right to Disconnect
The widespread use of email for communicating means that academics are continuously receiving work-related communications from the university and students. Both universities and faculty need to understand that it is important to set realistic expectations for when faculty will be available to respond to email. Many jurisdictions are either considering or having passed legislation to establish employee rights to disconnect from work, meaning that employees have the right not to engage in work-related communications outside of work hours. For example, the province of Ontario requires all employers with 25 or more employees to provide employees with a written policy explaining the employee's right to disconnect in accordance with employee rights as set out by the Employment Standards Act.
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.