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.

PhD

Julia Houben

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Utrecht University

Supervisor

Reine van der Wal

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Utrecht University

Supervisor

Marije Lesterhuis

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Utrecht University

Supervisor

Harold van Rijen

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Utrecht University

Supervisor

Naomi Ellemers

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Utrecht University

• Psychology
• Social Psychology

• Work

• Feedback Cycles

• Reconciling stakeholder interests

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.

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Graduate School of Life Sciences Utrecht