09.12 Promoting sustainable cooperation and social safety by changing organizational culture from the inside out – the perspective of Academia

Aim of project

Over the last few years, there have been various reports showing a lack of social safety within the academic world. Although institutions try to make a change, they experience great difficulty in doing so. For instance, a lot of money is spent on external parties that focus on short term solutions instead of on a structural change. Therefore, the ambition of this PhD project is to identify how social safety can be improved within the academic world, specifically for PhD candidates. In addition, we hope to develop a sustainable instrument (in collaboration with HR) that can achieve and guarantee a socially safe work environment.

Theoretical background

Mental health issues and attrition rates among PhD candidates are high. This is indicative of the many challenges they face, including a high workload and dependent working relationships. In some cases, they also experience socially unsafe work environments, where incidents of inappropriate behavior can escalate. A socially safe working environment, where PhD candidates feel included, protected and free to voice their opinions, fosters better job performance, satisfaction, and engagement. Although the consequences of a socially unsafe environment span multiple levels – from the individual (increased anxiety and depression) to the team (reduced collaboration and learning) and the organization as a whole (higher absenteeism and costs associated with complaint procedures) – many solutions focus solely on individual cases or skill development, such as time management or active bystander interventions, while a systemic analysis is required to provide structural and sustainable solutions. In this PhD project, we present a multilevel model of PhD candidates’ social safety, connecting three major theoretical approaches to social safety at three levels: Social Safety Theory (individual), Psychological Safety (team) and Psychosocial Safety Climate (organization). We use this model to explain how risk factors within the academic environment relate to the different levels of experienced social safety and why an effective safety strategy should be aligned with these factors.

Research design

First of all, we will write a conceptual paper exploring risk factors within the academic world impacting social safety of PhD candidates and offering guidelines to develop effective strategies. Secondly, we will collect survey data among PhD candidates to learn what risk factors are related to experienced social safety at work and how this social safety is related to individual health outcomes. Thirdly, qualitative interviews will be held with both supervisors and PhD-candidates within the Graduate School of Life Sciences, to explore what aspects of their working relationship are important to ensure social safety. After this, we will test an intervention within the graduate school to see if this has a positive impact on experienced social safety. Lastly, an instrument will be designed and tested that can be used to improve social safety within the UU. 

Funding

This project is ½ funded by the Graduate School of Life Sciences (Utrecht University)