The Dark Side of Academia

The Dark Side of Academia examines harmful practices in higher education like burnout, precarity, inequality, and misconduct. It highlights pressures on health and wellbeing, discrimination, and performance demands, offering practical recommendations to support academic staff and guide policy for better workplace conditions. The Dark Side of Academia provides an insight into the prevalence, form, and impact of harmful practices within academia. By combining contemporary research, practice, and policy, it examines the experience and impact of issues such as precarity, burnout, and violence within higher education. This key title synthesises expertise on a range of vitally important issues impacting higher education right now. Addressing the experiences of academic employees, it shines a light on the prevalent but often unspoken underbelly of academia. Structured into three main sections, it focuses on key topics such as performance and competition; health, wellbeing, and burnout; precarious contracts; inequality and discrimination; disability; gender and gender identity; race and ethnicity; and bullying and sexual misconduct. Each chapter includes clear recommendations for policy and practice and is essential reading for all those working in higher education, but particularly those in positions of power. This book is designed to encourage greater attention to the experiences of all staff employed in the sector and to offer implementable strategies to provide better support for academics.

Pages: 156, Edition: 1 armband, Hardcover, Routledge