When UK academics decide whether to disclose mental distress to employers in the HEI workplace: identity conflict, organisational context and the need for systemic change

UK academics currently report increased workplace stress and workload, with decreased work-life balance, but often feel reluctant to disclose mental distress.  We distributed an anonymous online qualitative survey to explore factors which lead academics to decide 

whether to disclose mental distress in the workplace. Thirty-one participants responded, providing qualitative data about institutional and psychosocial factors that informed academics’ decision to disclose, supplemented by information on role position.  Data was 

analysed thematically.  Our study reports the individual struggles of academics as they manage their professional identity alongside the demands of the HEI workplace and explores the individual processes of identity conflict that leads to are-construction of the professional identity after disclosing mental distress.  Our findings reinforce the evidence that this decision occurs within the context of an increasingly business-focussed work culture of over-commitment and strain in this sector in which academics are made responsible for their own wellbeing. These findings lead us to recommend further research into disclosure using the lens of identity integration.  We endorse important systemic changes by suggesting that universities need to 

consider factors contributing to poor mental wellbeing as structural 

issues, which require institutional action.  Furthermore, we highlight the need for HEIs to value the hybrid identity of those who are both academics and experts-by-experience. Finally, we advocate for universities to adopt the social model of disability, which promotes 

inclusion and equality of opportunity for people who experience mental distress. The small study sample size makes the findings tentative, but they are nevertheless significant and intriguing