Culturally Sensitive Mental Health Support for Higher Education Employees

Suggested citation:

Swiatek, L., & Edgington, U. (2021). Culturally sensitive mental health support for higher education employees. In T. Heinz Housel (Ed.), Mental health among higher education faculty, administrators, and graduate students: A critical perspective (pp. 189–206). Lexington Books. https://figshare.com/s/c38f9001d23f0429e801

Abstract:

This chapter argues that, in increasingly demanding higher education landscapes, higher education institutions (HEIs) with growing international workforces have an obligation to provide culturally sensitive mental health support for those workforces. This support needs to be available for staff members before entering an institution and after leaving it. A lack of such support prevents staff from being effective research-, community-, and thought-leaders, as well as serving universities’ key members – students – through effective teaching for quality learning. To substantiate its argument, the chapter examines the different publicly available forms of mental health support offered by universities in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Its findings indicate that culturally sensitive forms of publicly available mental health support are rare, and that mental health support generally is frequently limited or not easily accessible. The chapter suggests broad-ranging and visible approaches for HEIs to support diverse and complex staff mental health needs more effectively.