Conference Program

The study investigates underexplored factors related to mental health within the university context. The academic debate on mental health has focused primarily on the student community, while largely overlooking university staff.

In recent years, a growing number of studies have documented the presence, among faculty members and researchers, of symptoms associated with stress, anxiety, burnout and depression. These manifestations are frequently linked to profound organizational and systemic changes, including intensified competition, increasing contractual precariousness and implementation of productivity metrics together with expanded workload and spectrum of tasks and responsibilities. Within this context, a significant body of literature has concentrated on specific segments of the academic population (early career researchers), considered particularly exposed to such risks. In conjunction with this, other contributions have examined self-related dimensions of mental health, such as work‑related stress, with the aim of analysing its determinants and modes of expression.

This study asks how discourse on mental health unfolds within the university setting and examines its breadth and forms across the full range of academic staff. The investigation contributes to filling a gap in the literature and advancing the discussion on academics’ mental health that goes beyond the quantification‑oriented models (e.g. Job Demands–Resources framework) or unambiguous selection of the target.

While remaining attentive to well‑established aspects, such as risk factors, coping strategies and issues related to the potential stigma surrounding certain topics, the study situates the problematization of mental health within innovative interpretative frameworks aimed at: i) critically analysing the ambivalence of certain characteristics of academic work, such as its “vocational” and highly motivating nature; ii) investigating role transitions, which are considered particularly sensitive phases for mental health; iii) identifying initiatives aimed at protecting mental well‑being at the individual, leadership, group/departmental and organizational levels.

The study employs two well‑established tools in qualitative sociological research: focus groups and semi‑structured interviews. The cross-sectional analysis involves approximately 40 participants comprising the full range of academic staff at the University of Bergamo (PhD candidates, research fellows, researchers, associate professors, and full professors). The empirical exploration is accompanied by an interpretive‑constructivist analysis designed to capture conceptual convergences and divergences between individual perceptions of the topic, organizational planning, and pressures stemming from the broader socio‑institutional context in which academics work.

The expected findings aim to generate multi‑level impacts. The research seeks to set up a space for reflection on mental health within the specific institutional context under study, in order to contextualize individual perspectives and discursive patterns. The examination of recurring tensions makes it possible to both systematize organizational vulnerabilities (e.g. inadequate service provision) and unpack broader implications of academic culture for mental health (e.g. performance-oriented culture; funding shortages; precariousness). Finally, the study intends to bring to light proposals, initiatives, and targeted intervention policies grounded in academics’ lived experiences, shared observations, and derived more generally from the empirical results.

The resulting theoretical scaffolding will support the development of a constructive intra‑organizational dialogue to effectively guide decision‑making processes aimed at safeguarding mental health and reimagining a more sustainable academic culture.