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SUMMARY:Mental Health of PhD Students - Dr. Katia Levecque\, Ghent Univers
 ity
DTSTART:20190129T120000Z
DTEND:20190129T130000Z
UID:TALK118672@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Cavendish Inspiring Women
DESCRIPTION:How are you today? \n\nIn daily life\, communication on the wo
 rk  floor is often initiated by “how are you?” but very seldom this qu
 estion  has the intent of triggering a comprehensive and honest answer. Eq
 ually  part of daily practice is to answer with a simple “I’m fine tha
 nks” or a  description of what one is doing instead of one’s state of 
 (well)being.  This latter seems especially true for PhD students\, who fre
 quently  describe their state of wellbeing in terms of the state of their 
 PhD  progress. But what if we were to get a comprehensive and honest answe
 r?   \n\nWhile writing a PhD is a unique life opportunity and most PhD  st
 udents start off their journey with great passion for science and the  aim
  of making a difference\, the road towards a successful PhD might be  very
  bumpy. Whether or not these bumps will turn into opportunities for  growt
 h does not only depend on the PhD student but also on his/her work  enviro
 nment: in order to flourish\, researchers need healthy and  supportive wor
 k environments. \n\nIn recent years\, more and more  concerns are voiced a
 bout the academic work environment and its  potential negative impact on P
 hD student’s wellbeing and mental health.  On social media\, more and mo
 re PhD students and other academics are  providing testimonies of chronic 
 stress\, depression\, anxiety\, addiction\,  burnout and suicidal ideation
 . The testimonies come from around the  world. According to some\, there i
 s a ”mental health crisis in academia”.  Is this kind of framing warra
 nted? What does the empirical evidence  base reveal?  \n\nIn this talk I w
 ill present data on the academic  work environment and mental health statu
 s of the PhD student population  in Flanders\, Belgium. Data was gathered 
 in 2013 and again in 2018.
LOCATION:Pippard Lecture Theatre\, Cavendish Laboratory
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