Universities across the world report having greater mental health provision for students than for staff, sparking calls for providers to ¡°prioritise¡± staff well-being, data collected by Times Higher Education has found.?

The?THE?Impact Rankings, which assess how universities perform against the United Nations¡¯?Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), found that while 62 per cent of institutions ranked for SDG 3 (good health and well-being) submitted?relevant evidence showing that they provide access to mental health support for students, only 41 per cent?submitted the same data for staff.

This year¡¯s?rankings - which will be published on 18 June - was the first time that universities?were asked to provide separate mental health data on staff and students, with the figures based on submissions from 1,788 universities from 119 countries/territories. The gap was particularly stark in South America, where although 67 per cent could offer relevant evidence of student mental health support, only 34 per cent could do the same for staff, marking the widest?difference of any continent.

In Europe, 76 per cent of universities provided relevant evidence of student mental health support,?while?only 46 per cent provided relevant evidence of staff mental health support.?

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In Oceania, where?all ranked universities were able to provide evidence of mental health provision for students, the gap similarly stood at 30 percentage points, with only 70 per cent providing evidence?of staff mental health support.

While in Africa the gap stood at only 16 percentage points, just 37 per cent of universities offered student mental health support in comparison with 21 per cent for staff, making it the region with the lowest overall support for mental health.

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Canada was the only country that?showed equal provision of staff and student support, both at 90 per cent. Meanwhile, the US bucked the overall trend, with its universities being more likely to provide evidence of mental health support for staff (82 per cent) than students (79 per cent).?

Chathurika Kannangar, associate teaching professor in psychology at the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Greater Manchester, said that ¡°as institutions continue their efforts to enhance student well-being and mental health outcomes, it is equally important to prioritise the well-being of HE staff¡±.

¡°This is the workforce dedicated to providing the best education for students and it is crucial that they are supported with whatever issues might potentially affect their mental health and well-being,¡± she said.

Kannangar?added that the ¡°discrepancy¡± between provision for students and staff?could be a result of the fact that staff support is usually outsourced to external providers ¨C including through employee assistance programmes ¨C whereas student services are more typically delivered internally. She added that institutions may have?more data on the mental health of students?than?staff.?

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Percentage of universities with mental health support and relevant evidence

The?new figures on staff and student mental health?support come amid global attacks on higher education and?mounting financial issues in many sectors, including the UK, where thousands of university jobs are being axed.?The gap between student and staff mental health provision in the UK stands at 24 percentage points (87 per cent for students versus 63 per cent for staff).?

¡°Given the current challenges facing the sector, it is vital to ensure that the processes in place for both staff and student mental health support are aligned, effective and adequately resourced,¡± Kannangar said.?

The data also found that globally universities reported similar discrepancies between their maternity and paternity policies, although as with the mental health data?there were significant variations across regions and countries.?Some 95 per cent of Australian universities ranked for SDG 5 (gender equality) were able to evidence both maternity and paternity policies; however, in the US, the share of ranked institutions showing relevant proof of maternity and paternity policies was 71 per cent and 56 per cent respectively.?

India presents a notably large?gap on these indicators, with 58 per cent of Indian institutions evidencing maternity policies, compared?with only 36 per cent for paternity policies.?

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juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com

The?Times Higher Education?Impact Rankings 2025 will be published on 18 June.??