COST Action Blog: the STAIRCASE Survey to improve working conditions in Academia

Blogs are written by COST Actions

The Researcher Mental Health Observatory (ReMO) focuses on wellbeing and mental health within academia. Members of the network represent an international mix of scientific knowledge and practice on researcher mental health with interdisciplinary (e.g. psychology, sociology, business administration), multilevel (individual, organizational, system) and intercultural perspectives.

Your voice is crucial for improving the working conditions of academics. Discover how you can shape the future of academic working conditions by taking part in the ReMo STAIRCASE Survey.

Emerging evidence points to a severe mental health crisis in academia, particularly affecting junior researchers. Even in the absence of overt mental health issues, researchers may not be able to thrive to their full potential. While the organisational context is recognised to play a crucial role, the impact of specific policies remains unclear due to a lack of cross-institutional data.

The STAIRCASE Survey is a pivotal initiative within the ReMO COST Action. The network is currently comprised of researchers from around 49 (mostly) European countries, committed to improving working conditions and mental well-being in academia (see the ReMO manifesto for more information).

With this survey, we investigate how organisational differences influence individual mental health, encompassing both positive indicators such as work engagement and job satisfaction, as well as negative indicators such as work addiction, depression, and burnout. The survey also explores contextual factors within departments, institutions, and countries that may impact mental health indicators.

Who is behind the STAIRCASE Survey?

This initiative is led by a dedicated group of volunteer European researchers. Approximately 60 team members focus on regional dissemination efforts, while 30 focus on research design and data collection. Our diverse team includes mental health professionals, psychologists, data scientists, and worker representation experts, all united by a common purpose: improving the working conditions of academics.

The institution responsible for coordinating the survey is TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology.

The STAIRCASE survey collects data from individual researchers on mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, burnout, work engagement), work context (e.g., organisational, climate, harassment, job demands & resources), demographic characteristics, and employment situation. Additionally, the survey gathers social media handles & ORCID IDs (insofar as respondents opt-in to volunteering such information).

Target population

The STAIRCASE survey is very much an initiative for researchers by researchers and targets researchers from doctoral to leadership levels in university and non-university research institutions, excluding non-scientific staff, industry researchers and people who have left academia. While our primary focus is on the 49 countries represented in the ReMO network, we extend our efforts to include stakeholders worldwide.

What can researchers within COST Actions do?

We seek to disseminate our survey extensively, employing both “bottom-up” and “top-down” strategies. The survey is available in six languages, with informed consent forms in additional languages.

We invite COST Actions members and those in the wider COST community to participate, ensuring comprehensive representation of their institutions and countries. The involvement of all researchers will enhance our capacity to craft tailored recommendations suited to their unique situations.

Together, we can make a lasting impact on the working conditions and well-being of researchers.

When and how can you to participate in the STAIRCASE Survey?

The STAIRCASE survey was launched on September 15, 2023, and will remain open for data collection until March 15, 2024. Click below to take part in the survey which should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.

To learn more about the survey, please visit the dedicated STAIRCASE survey website, where you will find introductory videos, information on Ethics, data, and GDPR compliance, and an FAQ.

We count on you!

Your contribution is instrumental to the success of this endeavor. Be a part of the change and help us create healthy academic working conditions! As such we would be extremely grateful if you could (a) fill out the survey and (b) help us distribute the invitation within your networks!

Author

The authors would also like to thank Inge van der Weijden and Stefan Mol for their support.