Better knowledge about doctoral students.

Better environment for doctoral students

Doctoral students have a higher rate of absenteeism due to illness than other students, and 30 percent are uncomfortable about voicing any criticism. Now the results of a project have been presented, in six focus areas, which will improve the doctoral students' working environment.

PILLE STRAUSS-RAATS,

Development Manager at Human Resources within work environment and health, has recent experience from her time as a doctoral student. Last year, after quite some time, she finished her thesis on how flexible working methods affect the work environment and well-being in organizations that use temping agencies.

The goal is to highlight problems and give examples of possible solutions to improve the working environment for doctoral students.

– DOCTORAL STUDENTS

are a vulnerable group and quite a lot of them experience burn-out, especially towards the end. After all, they are in between studying and working life, but that is often forgotten. The demands to deliver are high and at the same time they are at the bottom of the academic hierarchy. Instead of just offering courses in mindfulness, we should examine how to improve the organizational and systemic level more.

The work will be presented on the Employee Portal in December. – The idea is to collate everything in a knowledge database that will be kept up to date. The real work actually begins now. It started as a project but will now be part of our ongoing work. Of course, there is not just one solution that will fix everything, instead the circumstances vary across the University of Gothenburg as a whole. But we can learn a lot from one another.

PILLE STRAUSS-RAATS has reviewed the surveys that have been conducted in recent years, including ST’s (the Union of Civil Servants) from 2021, which investigated the working environment of doctoral students, and the survey conducted by the University of Gothenburg's Doctoral Student Committee (GUDK) on how doctoral students were affected by the pandemic.

– There is a strong emphasis on individual responsibility and when talking about the working environment and health for doctoral students, one tends to dismiss the importance of organizational factors. We need to start discussing what the doctoral students' working environment is like. Is it the ability to endure stress, have a large screen and ergonomic chair, or an opportunity to develop their knowledge at a reasonable pace and be part of an academic community?

She believes that there is a culture of silence at the University of Gothenburg that makes it difficult for doctoral students to ask for and receive help.

– In the ST survey, it was clear that doctoral students at the University of Gothenburg felt that their opinions were not taken seriously. As many as 30 percent of the respondents answered that they would not feel comfortable voicing any criticism. That is serious.

The results have been compiled in six focus areas: High workload, insecure position, inclusion and exclusion, relationship with supervisors, equal treatment and discrimination, and finally the physical work environment. Under each area there are good examples that can inspire others.

Doctoral students are a vulnerable group and quite a lot of them experience burn-out.

PILLE STRAUSS-RAATS

– We need a discussion on the doctoral students' working environment, says Pille StraussRaats, Development Manager at Human Resources.

SHE EMPHASIZES that a lot has improved in recent years. There are common rules governing the individual study plan but also the role of the supervisor. At the same time, she points out that it can be difficult to change a system from within and that it takes time.

To manage the workload,

Better environment for doctoral students

some departments have introduced induction programmes for new doctoral students, including holding courses in time planning and introducing a more flexible way of combining courses with fieldwork.

A DOCTORAL POSITION is a temporary form of employment with built-in uncertainty. So it is not surprising that a lot of people do not feel good about their uncertain position, but there is also a lack of transparency, says Pille Strauss-Raats. – When it came to the issue of extending a student's doctoral studies, as a consequence of the pandemic, different decisions were taken depending on where the student was undertaking their doctoral studies. It was also not clear what the rationale was for the decisions that were taken.

The individual study plan is an important work environment tool, emphasizes Pille Strauss-Raats. – Improvements have certainly been made in recent years, but much remains to be done. There seem to be different interpretations of the regulations both by supervisors and doctoral students. But it is important that doctoral students feel included in the shared work environment.

AS MANY AS 40 percent of the doctoral students are from another country. Although the University of Gothenburg officially strives for bilingualism, many foreign doctoral students feel left out. – That is why it is so important that the information that is disseminated is in both languages, we cannot assume that everyone understands Swedish. Furthermore, you cannot expect someone to be able to teach in Swedish after only one or two years while also doing research and taking courses. By not being able to teach, it also makes it more difficult to improve your credentials, which in turn affects future job prospects.

One suggestion that has been highlighted is that new doctoral students should be supported by a more experienced research student as a mentor. Another way is to advertise jobs concurrently, so that several doctoral students start at the same time. This means that you can support one another, says Pille Strauss-Raats.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT issue concerns the relationship with your supervisor. The latest survey shows that 31 percent of the female doctoral students feel that there is a need for improved supervision, compared to 18 percent of the male students. – The match between doctoral students and supervisors is not always successful. There should be clear rules regarding how to change your supervisor without it becoming a personal issue. At Pedagogen, for example, they have created a doctoral students’ council, where they have developed a checklist of what to expect from the process from both parties. There should also be routines for what happens when a supervisor is ill.

There is still much to be done in terms of discrimination and equal treatment, says Pille Strauss-Raats. Female doctoral students are more vulnerable. – Twenty-seven percent of the female doctoral students feel that they are always treated fairly, compared to forty percent of the male doctoral students. The fact that 4 percent of the University of Gothenburg's doctoral students have experienced a threat of violence, in some form, is also worrying. In our guidelines there are several practical examples of how to deal with the problem.

THE NEXT WORK environment survey, which will take place at the beginning of next year, will contain a special section concerning the doctoral students' work environment. – The lessons learned from that survey will be an important part of the knowledge database we are building to improve their working environment, says Pille Strauss-Raats.

Text: Allan Eriksson Photo: Johan Wingborg

FACTS

Doktorander vid GU

About doctoral studies at the University of Gothenburg: There are approximately 1,800 active doctoral students. The average age is: 33. There are an equal number of male and female doctoral students. 73 percent are married or live with a partner. 40 percent are international students. 60 percent study fulltime. 80 percent work more than 40 hours a week. Doctoral students account for a third of all the research in Sweden.

Foto: PRIVAT

Sanskriti Chattopadhyay, doctoral student at the Film, Photography and Literary Composition Unit at HDK-Valand, thinks the work is a big step in the right direction.

– IT IS VERY commendable that HR is delving into this and identifying what the core problems are and how to achieve a better working environment at the departmental level. Instead of seeing the doctoral students' questions as separate, they are put in a broader perspective. This creates awareness and initiates increased collaboration and exchange between different faculties and levels within the administration.

Sanskriti Chattopadhyay emphasizes that there is already a lot of information and statistics regarding the working environment of doctoral students, but it is a big thing to gather everything in the one place. – I have high hopes that the work will lead to an increased exchange of information and best practice. It is important to have a more positive and constructive way of working, where you discuss issues together and arrive at different solutions.