Prelims

Half Title Page

Nurturing Wellbeing in Academia

Series Title Page

Surviving and Thriving in Academia

Surviving and Thriving in Academia provides short, accessible books for navigating the many challenges, responsibilities and opportunities of academic careers. The series is particularly dedicated to supporting the professional journeys of early and mid-career academics and doctoral students, but will present books of use to scholars at all stages in their careers. Books within the series draw on real-life examples from international scholars, offering practical advice and a supportive and encouraging tone throughout.

Series Editor: Marian Mahat, The University of Melbourne, Australia

In this series

Achieving Academic Promotion

Edited by Marian Mahat, The University of Melbourne & Jennifer Tatebe, University of Auckland

Getting the Most Out of Your Doctorate: The Importance of Supervision, Networking and Becoming a Global Academic

Edited by Mollie Dollinger, La Trobe University, Australia

Coaching and Mentoring for Academic Development

By Kay Guccione and Steve Hutchinson

Women Thriving in Academia

Edited by Marian Mahat, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Academic Resilience: Personal Stories and Lessons Learnt From the COVID-19 Experience

Edited by Marian Mahat, Joanne Blannin, Elizer Jay de los Reyes, and Caroline Cohrssen

Academic Mobility and International Academics: Challenges and Opportunities

By Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh, La Trobe University, Australia

The Impactful Academic: Building a Research Career That Makes a Difference

By Wade Kelly, Monash University, Australia

Thriving in Academic Leadership

Edited by Sharmila Pixy Ferris and Kathleen Waldron

Supervising Doctoral Candidates

Edited by Chris Rolph, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Title Page

Nurturing Wellbeing in Academia

How to Prioritise Your Mental Health

By

Poppy Gibson

Anglia Ruskin University, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL

First edition 2024

Copyright © 2024 Poppy Gibson.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: www.copyright.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters' suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83797-952-3 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83797-949-3 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83797-951-6 (Epub)

List of Figures

About the Author

Dr Poppy Gibson is a Senior Lecturer whose key interests involve children's psychological development and mental health and wellbeing. Additionally, Poppy holds an MSc in Mental Health Science, is a trained Samaritan and is passionate about supporting colleagues with their wellbeing.

Poppy moved into higher education after over a decade working in London primary schools.

Poppy's first degree was in Primary Education with Qualified Teacher Status from Edge Hill University, with a specialisation in Child Behaviour and Psychology of Learning. In addition, she has a Masters degree in Education, specialising in Leadership and Management in Education.

Poppy has worked in the education sector at a wide range of schools throughout London, both at independent schools and state schools. Poppy has worked as a class teacher within both Key Stages, and with various coordinator and management roles, and has a wide range of interests in the National Curriculum. Key posts held include Head of Modern Foreign Languages, Head of Computing, Coordinator of PSHE and Citizenship and Phase Leader of Year 3 and 4.

Poppy also enjoyed working as a Learning Support Adviser at Birkbeck University of London from 2012 to 2018, supporting students on both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Poppy holds a Doctorate in Education from Oxford Brookes University. Poppy's doctoral thesis was awarded the ‘Most Downloaded’ from EThOS databases in Autumn 2020. Her thesis explored young girls' experiences of using social media, online interaction and communication with others online in a 'third space', and how these interactions build up a social reality and impact upon identity formation.

Poppy now leads two Primary Education degrees at Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford. Poppy supervises students on both the MA and Doctoral programmes.

Foreword

Wellbeing is not a fad, neither is it fluffy, abstract nor new. The greatest minds, from Aristotle onwards, have put considerable thought into the science of happiness and eudaimonic wellbeing for millennia. It features on our 21st century agenda as a societal and global concern, pre-dating Covid-19 but perhaps given additional attention because of the long-term impacts the pandemic has had on us all.

In ‘Nurturing Wellbeing in Academia’ Dr Poppy Gibson considers wellbeing within Higher Education, a sector that a 2018 study forecast would lose two-thirds of its workforce to retirement, burnout and dissatisfaction. Mirroring the patterns in primary and secondary schools, the world of academia, into which many teachers have taken a career move, faces similar pressures and familiar stresses which will be recognised across all parts of our education services. Poppy combines the leading theme of wellbeing with the golden thread of emotional intelligence, which runs through this book. This emotional intelligence addresses the needs of individuals taking time and giving attention to their own mental health and wellbeing, but also to leaders and managers with a responsibility for the emotional health of their colleagues and the teams they support. Readers will very much appreciate the ‘critical questions’ in each chapter, ensuring that the wellbeing of all stakeholders is considered, thought through and based on the context in which they work, rather than seeking an ‘off the shelf’ solution.

Based in part upon her own experience in making the transition from primary school teacher to Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, Poppy also draws upon the experiences of colleagues across the tertiary sector and how they seek not merely to survive but to thrive in the vital role that they play in the academic and pastoral experience of their students, emphasising in the first chapter the holistic nature that a culture of positive mental health and wellbeing can embrace and promote. There is a strong sense of ‘why’ in Chapter Two, with the ‘why’ enabling reflection on reasons for being in academia and how to sustain this role in the future. The third chapter debates imposter syndrome and fears that many colleagues might express, and the impactors that gender, ethnicity, age and experience may have upon staff members making the career change they may have engaged in.

The following chapters specifically support both early and mid-career researchers and the practicalities of balancing workload with their home lives and the challenges this brings. Poppy then goes on to raise the pressures of seeking promotion and how to take feedback from a job rejection in a positive way and not allow this to adversely impact the candidate. The subsequent chapter addresses some of the pressures that come with publishing including the meeting of deadlines and dealing with rejection of publishing and research proposals. Chapter Eight promotes how to use social media as a positive tool for promotion and networking. So often a ‘bearpit’ as Poppy has examined in previous research, social media is promoted as a way to be ‘out there’ and as a way to cascade key messages.

The final chapter, echoing the stresses of leaders from EYFS to Sixth Form, considers the needs of and pressures on those ‘Positive Professors’ and their sense of identity, balanced with a sense of their values and purpose as their roles and levels of contact with their students and colleagues changes over time.

Poppy Gibson has presented wise, thoughtful and carefully researched words of advice for the wellbeing of the higher education sector, but her book needs also to be considered alongside others debating and discussing mental health and emotional wellbeing. Wellbeing isn't simply just for education; education has specific needs, but other workplaces do too. What we do in education though is grow the young people who will serve society in the future. I would highly recommend ‘Nurturing Wellbeing in Academia’ to anyone in academia with an authentic interest in wellbeing.

By Andrew Cowley

Coach, Author, School Governor and Former Teacher

Introduction

In order to thrive in academia, we must understand and nurture our wellbeing. This book offers practical advice for academics and members of the academic community when it comes to becoming more ‘intelligent’ when planning, teaching, collaborating and publishing.

A 2018 study predicted that higher education would lose half to two-thirds of its academic workforce to retirement, career burnout or job dissatisfaction within 5 years (Gewin, 2022). As we continue to feel the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on our academic practices, our networking behaviours and the needs of our students, the landscape of academia remains altered and uncertain. This new publication fills the gap with a modern and accessible text that can support Early Career Academics/Researchers with their wellbeing, reinspire Middle Career Academics/Researchers and revive those more experienced academics who are already professors, or working in their twilight years.

This book is designed to be educational as well as practical, scaffolding wellbeing activities and offering general guidance. We all appreciate that in order to thrive in academia, we firstly need the strong foundations of survival, of which our wellbeing and mental health are key for successful functioning. The nine chapters within this text encourage those in academia to reflect upon how they are functioning, both in and out of the classroom, offering a range of suggestions for smarter ways of working. A deeper discussion threads through the book on the balance between job satisfaction and life satisfaction, calls educators and academics to remember why they entered academia in the first place and how to maintain these values in a way that continues to inspire and drive us.

Each chapter contains ‘critical questions’ that prompt these thoughtful moments of reflection for the reader, and then shares possible solutions, supported by literature and research where appropriate, to help us to ‘thrive’ rather than just ‘survive’ in the academic world. The purpose of this publication is to act as an aid for academics and their teams, to help them avoid burnout and to aid retention and promote positive output. This book, therefore, is also a valuable resource for leaders and those in management roles.

This book is also an ideal resource for those who may be considering transitioning into Higher Education, helping to prepare them for the challenges and cognitive load that academia can bring. Statistics show that now more than ever, teachers from the primary school and secondary sector are leaving the profession, and some of these are exploring moving into academia. This book caters for all.