Doctoral students’ well-being in United Kingdom business schools: A survey of personal experience and support mechanisms

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2021.100490Get rights and content

Highlights

  • •

    Many business school doctoral students in the study (n = 32) viewed their own mental well-being negatively.

  • •

    Personal and interpersonal factors caused most of their negative mental well-being issues.

  • •

    Research supervisors were viewed as a positive support.

  • •

    Business school doctoral training programmes, offered minimal input on managing and understanding their personal well-being.

Abstract

We present the perspectives on mental well-being of 63 Doctoral students (DS) undertaking a PhD in business schools in United Kingdom (UK) universities. Utilising a cross-sectional survey, the aims of this study are to 1. Capture business and management doctoral students' (DSs) views on their mental well-being and the factors that affect it. 2. Critically review the influence of the business school learning environment on doctoral student well-being. 3. Reflect on the effectiveness of business schools’ support for the well-being of doctoral students.

Findings indicate that many business school doctoral students viewed their mental well-being negatively and more than half considered their personal well-being as their own problem. Personal and interpersonal factors caused a very high percentage of their negative mental well-being issues, with the majority of research supervisors being viewed as a positive support.

However, in business school doctoral training programmes, respondents reported minimal input on managing and understanding their personal well-being, despite research which correlates faculty and departmental support for well-being and PhD completion. In the light of these findings we suggest that individual business schools should review their training curriculum for doctoral students to prevent over-reliance on the supervisory team and offer more formal training on managing mental well-being.

Introduction

Recent studies highlight that doctoral students (DSs) worldwide are experiencing mental well-being difficulties, including high levels of anxiety, depression, and psychological distress (Barreira et al., 2018; Levecque et al., 2017). Mental well-being is defined as your mental state - how you are feeling and how well you can cope with day-to-day life (Mind.org.uk). Since about a half of DSs globally tend to withdraw from their studies, scholarly interest in their mental well-being is increasing (Moate et al., 2019; Wollast et al., 2018; Devos et al., 2017; Hunter & Devine, 2016). Undertaking an advanced degree is a stressful experience for many. Recent articles in Nature (2019a and b) together with Australian (Barry, Woods, Warnecke, Stirling, & Martin, 2018) and French studies (Haag et al., 2018), indicate that DSs have higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress than the general population. There is little known about how business and management DSs perceive and manage their own mental well-being. Further, although knowledge about the range of institutional-level and individual support initiatives for promoting health and well-being of the DS group is expanding (Authors, 2020; Metcalf, Wilson & Levecque, 2018), information on how UK business and management DSs cope with their challenges remains limited. This paper addresses the gap in the literature by presenting the perspectives on mental well-being of 63 DSs from business schools in United Kingdom (UK) universities as they undertake their studies.

The aims of this study are to:

  • 1.

    Capture business and management doctoral students' views on their mental well-being and the factors that affect it.

  • 2.

    Critically review the influence of the business school environment on doctoral student well-being.

  • 3.

    Reflect on the effectiveness of business schools' support for the well-being of doctoral students.

Section snippets

Mental well -being

It is projected that, by 2030, mental health problems (particularly depression) will be the leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally for all populations (WHO, 2011). Internationally, depression and anxiety are most commonly reported in employment aged adults between 25 and 64 (Mental Health Foundation, 2016), with North American and Australian populations most likely to disclose. In the Middle East and North Africa (2019), younger people report high levels of negative well-being and

Methodology

Design: This is a survey of 63 DSs' perceptions on their mental well-being. Ethical approval was gained from the host University's Ethical Review Board. Using the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES) (Eysenbach, 2004), we summarise the study procedures.

Participants: Our target population was self-selecting business and management DSs who are registered in any UK university. Our sampling frame was the list of DSs with an email address on file with the British Academy

Findings

The first question aimed to capture the respondents’ understanding of the term well-being when related to them. We asked: When you hear the phrase ‘Doctoral Students' Mental Health and Wellbeing,’ what comes into your mind?

  • (Q1)

    On understanding the term well-being

All respondents answered this opening question (n = 63). Three groups (a,b,c) were identified. Group (a), 31% (n = 19) related their well-being to the process of undertaking a PhD, stating that their studies influenced many dimensions of

Discussion

Firstly, aim one, factors that create positive and negative well-being in DSs. The study affirms the findings of other studies, with personal and interpersonal factors being the biggest contributors and influences on both positive and negative well-being. Personal factors include self-belief (Wisker, 2012) and interpersonal features, and encompass capacity to cope with the competing demands of the family and a PhD (Martinez et al., 2013), or conflicting goals (Haynes et al., 2012).

Secondly, a

Conclusion

In addressing the calls to expand DSs’ well-being research, by including business and management fields (e.g. Schmidt & Hansson, 2018), this study shines a light on the doctoral education environment from the perspectives of the business and management DS. Findings show, as in other generic DS studies, personal and interpersonal factors are the biggest contributors to both positive and negative well-being for the DS. However the context of the business school may affect how these factors are

Credit author statement

Janet McCray: Original Draft Preparation, Lit review, Discussion, Writing. Paul Joseph-Richards: Writing, Methodology, Data collection, Data Analysis, Figures.

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