Mental Health Matters in Higher Education: A Duty of Care

In higher education (HE) institutions with a toxic environment, emotions can be easily triggered, heightened, and often pushed out of control. Crowded spaces, tight schedules, hierarchical bureaucracy, chasing targets, constant changes in technology, processes, and procedures, when coupled with a diverse population, increase the possibility of a toxic culture developing. Conditions like these lead to poor mental health and decreased productivity. It seems staff and students can do little to change the environment in HE institutions. But they can take ownership of their own emotional responses within the environment and positively create a healthier climate in which to work and study, by being agents of change. This requires a shift in the dominant paradigm towards driving transformation from the bottom up, challenging toxic institutional culture, and improving mental health of staff and students. The new paradigm rests on the premise that people are not means to an end but are the end in themselves. When HE employees and students experience being cared for and developed, instead of being used, they have better mental health and are more productive. The ideas I present in this chapter offer readers the opportunity to reflect on their own practice and the practice of HE institutions generally, in promoting positive mental health in the spirit of care. After all, nourishment of the human mind is surely a core purpose of HE institutions.