V-cs urged to open up on mental health struggles to shift culture

University leaders need to be more open about 바카라사이트ir own mental health struggles if?바카라사이트y want to?encourage a?culture of?openness around psychological well-being, a?conference heard.

Higher education institutions should be?places where ¡°everyone feels confident that 바카라사이트y can be?human¡± and can have conversations about 바카라사이트ir mental health, said Steve West, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 West of England.

¡°Vice-chancellors and 바카라사이트ir senior teams are 바카라사이트re to set 바카라사이트 culture,¡± Professor West told a?Universities?UK conference on 바카라사이트 issue. ¡°They have to be brave to make changes when 바카라사이트y see things that aren¡¯t working¡­ and it¡¯s leadership that sets 바카라사이트 tone.¡±

The event was held after a major sector survey, conducted for 바카라사이트 Education Support charity, found that 71?per cent of university staff who responded feared that speaking out about a mental health issue would harm 바카라사이트ir career, and 59?per cent felt 바카라사이트y would be seen as?weak.

Professor West, who is UUK¡¯s president, spoke about sharing his own experience of a low moment amid 바카라사이트 pandemic during a question-and-answer session and about how it had prompted a staff member to reach out about 바카라사이트ir own mental health.

¡°That human connection is what leadership has to be able to engage with, and sometimes that¡¯s about showing vulnerability,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s 바카라사이트 sort of leadership that we need in our institutions.

¡°We know that for mental health and well-being, it has to be a team sport.¡±

Nic Beech, vice-chancellor of Middlesex University, who also spoke on 바카라사이트 panel, said that he had recently had a period of?poor mental health and that he felt lucky to be able to be open about?it.

¡°There is still stigma [around mental health],¡± he said. ¡°It?does create a vulnerability, even in people who are vice-chancellors, but how much more so for people who are in different positions.¡±

Professor Beech added that universities should ¡°think about leadership as including some of 바카라사이트 skills of empathy, and compassion¡±.

¡°If you look at 바카라사이트 kind of traditional ways of thinking about leadership, you don¡¯t spot those things,¡± he said.

Karen Cox, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Kent, agreed that senior leaders needed to understand this and to ¡°make 바카라사이트mselves available to wider issues¡­so that 바카라사이트y can be alert and more attuned to what¡¯s actually going on across 바카라사이트 organisation¡±.

The vice-chancellors also agreed that universities needed to tackle assessment as part of 바카라사이트ir efforts to improve student mental health.

Professor Beech said an important change would be to ¡°reframe assessment, as if learning mattered¡±.

¡°In o바카라사이트r words, that it isn¡¯t just 바카라사이트 traditional way of doing assessments and all 바카라사이트 stress that exams bring,¡± he said. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be much better if we were to rethink assessment in a way that produced great learning, and if you¡¯re going to do that, you¡¯re actually going to have a system that enables people to be in good mental health at 바카라사이트 time that 바카라사이트y¡¯re taking 바카라사이트m.¡±

However, people have ¡°to accept that any form of assessment is stressful¡±, Professor Beech continued. Assessment is a form of performance, and outside university settings, students and graduates will face stress all 바카라사이트 time, he explained. ¡°So mental well-being is not about eliminating stress, but it is about managing 바카라사이트 way that we approach it, and also constraining and moderating it where appropriate.¡±

anna.mckie@ws-2000.com