'The Academic Hunger Games': A Critical Exploration of Well-being in Higher Education

The rise in people experiencing mental health difficulty in the UK is frequently reported on in the media through the lens of a 'crisis'. Media reports often highlight the lobbying done by NHS staff and mental health charities in regards to mental health care funding shortages (Bulman, 2017). These media reports also act to raise awareness about the prevalence of mental health difficulty as it affects a vast spectrum of people within British society, including those in the public and private work-sectors (www.guardian.com, 2017), elderly people (Salman, 2017) and staff and students in educational institutions from primary to higher education (www.guardian.com, 2017). The 'mental health crisis' in UK universities is one of the most well-documented. The research I propose aims to critically explore well-being in higher education with a particular focus on the experiences of doctoral students. As statistics outlined by Universities UK show, annually one in four people in the UK experience mental health difficulty, and alongside other statistics, a 'reasonable assumption' is made that the national statistic is mirrored in a universities population inclusive of all its staff and students (Universities UK, 2015, p. 12). However, discussion about mental health in universities tends to centre on undergraduate-student populations and increasingly so about the experiences of those working in academia, despite indications that mental health difficulty may be experienced more prevalently amongst doctoral student populations (Bothwell, 2017).

There are complex and varied reasons why individuals positioned in higher education may experience mental health difficulty. However, the research that I propose to undertake aims to build upon a body of scholarly work which increasingly recognises, and raises awareness about, how universities' institutional practices and their cultures can contribute to the experiencing of mental health difficulty, whether or not pre-existing mental health conditions exist. Primarily so, scholarly work such as this focuses on the experience of academics, and those in the wider teaching profession and highlights the psycho-social costs of 'neoliberal labour cultures' (Gill, 2010). These cultures pertain to the ever-growing corporatization of universities and include a culture of performativity, audit culture, managerialism and employability agendas; cultures which act as forms of regulatory control and incentive to create states of stress, anxiety and insecurity (Ball, 2003, O'Neill, et al., 2014). As Ball (2003) suggests, cultures such as these have several consequences for communal social relations across various educational contexts, "there is a real possibility that authentic social relations are replaced by judgemental relations wherein persons are valued for their productivity alone. Their value as a person is eradicated." (p.224). As Universities UK 'Good practice guide' also states statistics may not reflect the true prevalence of people experiencing mental health difficulty in higher education due to non-disclosure (Universities UK, 2015, p. 12). Despite the general raising of awareness about mental health difficulty, members of the university community, for various reasons often choose to stay 'silent' about the difficulties they are experiencing and may only disclose their problems through anonymous and informal networks (Gill, 2010; Thomas, 2014).

In light of such critical arguments, the proposed research would also aim to consider the interrelationships between the 'educational labours' of doctoral students, exploitative working practices and cultures in higher education, and the debates about the changing nature and purpose of higher education in the UK.