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The impact of working in academia on researchers’ mental health and well-being: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis

OBJECTIVE: To understand how researchers experience working in academia and the effects these experiences have on their mental health and well-being, through synthesizing published qualitative data. METHOD: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted to gain a comprehensive over...

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Autores principales: Nicholls, Helen, Nicholls, Matthew, Tekin, Sahra, Lamb, Danielle, Billings, Jo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9132292/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35613147
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268890
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author Nicholls, Helen
Nicholls, Matthew
Tekin, Sahra
Lamb, Danielle
Billings, Jo
author_facet Nicholls, Helen
Nicholls, Matthew
Tekin, Sahra
Lamb, Danielle
Billings, Jo
author_sort Nicholls, Helen
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: To understand how researchers experience working in academia and the effects these experiences have on their mental health and well-being, through synthesizing published qualitative data. METHOD: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted to gain a comprehensive overview of what is currently known about academic researchers’ mental health and well-being. Relevant papers were identified through searching electronic databases, Google Scholar, and citation tracking. The quality of the included studies was assessed and the data was synthesised using reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: 26 papers were identified and included in this review. Academic researchers’ experiences were captured under seven key themes. Job insecurity coupled with the high expectations set by the academic system left researchers at risk of poor mental health and well-being. Access to peer support networks, opportunities for career progression, and mentorship can help mitigate the stress associated with the academic job role, however, under-represented groups in academia are at risk of unequal access to resources, support, and opportunities. CONCLUSION: To improve researchers’ well-being at work, scientific/academic practice and the system’s concept of what a successful researcher should look like, needs to change. Further high-quality qualitative research is needed to better understand how systemic change, including tackling inequality and introducing better support systems, can be brought about more immediately and effectively. Further research is also needed to better understand the experiences and support needs of post-doctoral and more senior researchers, as there is a paucity of literature in this area. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The review protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021232480).
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spelling pubmed-91322922022-05-26 The impact of working in academia on researchers’ mental health and well-being: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis Nicholls, Helen Nicholls, Matthew Tekin, Sahra Lamb, Danielle Billings, Jo PLoS One Research Article OBJECTIVE: To understand how researchers experience working in academia and the effects these experiences have on their mental health and well-being, through synthesizing published qualitative data. METHOD: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted to gain a comprehensive overview of what is currently known about academic researchers’ mental health and well-being. Relevant papers were identified through searching electronic databases, Google Scholar, and citation tracking. The quality of the included studies was assessed and the data was synthesised using reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: 26 papers were identified and included in this review. Academic researchers’ experiences were captured under seven key themes. Job insecurity coupled with the high expectations set by the academic system left researchers at risk of poor mental health and well-being. Access to peer support networks, opportunities for career progression, and mentorship can help mitigate the stress associated with the academic job role, however, under-represented groups in academia are at risk of unequal access to resources, support, and opportunities. CONCLUSION: To improve researchers’ well-being at work, scientific/academic practice and the system’s concept of what a successful researcher should look like, needs to change. Further high-quality qualitative research is needed to better understand how systemic change, including tackling inequality and introducing better support systems, can be brought about more immediately and effectively. Further research is also needed to better understand the experiences and support needs of post-doctoral and more senior researchers, as there is a paucity of literature in this area. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The review protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021232480). Public Library of Science 2022-05-25 /pmc/articles/PMC9132292/ /pubmed/35613147 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268890 Text en © 2022 Nicholls et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Nicholls, Helen
Nicholls, Matthew
Tekin, Sahra
Lamb, Danielle
Billings, Jo
The impact of working in academia on researchers’ mental health and well-being: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis
title The impact of working in academia on researchers’ mental health and well-being: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis
title_full The impact of working in academia on researchers’ mental health and well-being: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis
title_fullStr The impact of working in academia on researchers’ mental health and well-being: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis
title_full_unstemmed The impact of working in academia on researchers’ mental health and well-being: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis
title_short The impact of working in academia on researchers’ mental health and well-being: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis
title_sort impact of working in academia on researchers’ mental health and well-being: a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9132292/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35613147
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268890
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