Study puts academia’s ‘exhaustion economy’ under the spotlight

Increased awareness of energy-limiting and chronic conditions in higher education post-pandemic needs to translate into action, not just from universities but also from funders, publishers and conference organisers who impact much of an academic’s life, according to a professor.

Bethan Evans, professor in human geography at the University of Liverpool, has embarked on a research project looking at the “exhaustion economy” in UK academia, hoping to better understand the experiences of those with conditions that impact on their energy levels such as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, and long Covid.

The project will look at the uneven approach universities have taken to making adjustments for staff but also what lessons can be learned from their experiences more generally for a sector that is blighted by workload issues and burnout, said Professor Evans, who is working with researchers Anna Ruddock and Alison Allam on the Independent Social Research Foundation-funded study.

Little data exists for how many academics suffer from energy-limiting illnesses as they are not captured by the disability categories used by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa).

However, 22 per cent of disabled academic staff report having a long-term illness and 13 per cent say they have a condition different from those Hesa lists.

More generally, “impairment in stamina, breathing and fatigue” affects one in three disabled people of working age and 2.9 per cent of the UK population has long Covid, the emergence of which has been one of the factors in changing the way these conditions are viewed, according to Professor Evans, who herself has ME/CFS.

She said academia’s culture of long hours, intense work and people feeling they cannot take adequate sick leave were among the range of factors bringing the conditions to the fore for institutions.

Her own condition took seven years to be diagnosed, which was “not unusual”, and this means people often struggle to get reasonable adjustments made to their working practices, she said.

“You are trying to keep going doing the same patterns at work that you were doing before without understanding the need to pace and not push yourself. But working too intensely for really long hours just makes yourself more ill. That certainly was my experience,” she said.

Professor Evans said getting the adjustments needed often depended on having a supportive line manager and some academics have had vastly different experiences, even within the same departments.

“When I was diagnosed, I had no idea what to ask for, so I’m hoping through this research we can put guidance together that will help people in the future that will allow them to continue working with these conditions,” she added.

“We are used to doing things for students, like providing 20 per cent extra time in an exam, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into workload models for staff as well. There are huge variations across the country and likewise variations between people at different career stages as well.”

While much of the focus has been on what adjustments universities can make, she said external organisations also had a role to play.

“So much of academic work involves dealing with funders who set deadlines for applications, publishers who need edits and travel for conferences, all these things have an impact on the extent you can manage your condition and keep working,” she said.

“I am keen with this project to look at all of the institutions involved because there is a limit to what the employer can do.”

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com