Dr. Jana Lasser | jana.lasser@tugraz.at | Twitter: @janalasser
slides available at
https://janalasser.at/talks/CSH_mental_health/
What is this talk about?
What is this talk about?
What is this talk about?
Overview
The Max Planck PhDnet
The Max Planck Society (MPS)
Doctoral researchers of the MPS
Doctoral researchers (DRs) are employed by the MPS but the PhD is formally done at a university.Starting a PhD requires a master's degree and takes 3-5 years.
Most German universities allow for cumulative theses as well as monographies.
Conditions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are very comparable.
The Max Planck PhDnet
The Max Planck PhDnet
The Max Planck PhDnet
The Max Planck PhDnet
The Max Planck PhDnet
The Max Planck PhDnet
Some successes
The Survey
Every year...... mapping the PhD experience across the MPS with 100-120 questions about a range of topics.
Core topics: demographics, working conditions, supervision, career perspectives.
Situational topics: mental health, good scientific practice, power abuse.
Completely community organised.
Response rate of ~50%.
Demographics and working conditions of doctoral researchers
DRs are international
Overall, gender is balanced
DRs are between 20 and 30 years old
Unpaid overtime* is widespread
Work on weekends is widespread
Questionable salaries, fair contract durations
Questionable salaries, fair contract durations
Supervision of doctoral researchers and it's challenges
Number of supervised DRs
Number of supervised DRs
Frequency of meetings
Frequency of meetings and satisfaction
What do supervisors do?
Supervisor ratings and thoughts of giving up
Tools to facilitate supervision
Problems that can('t) be solved by such tools
Problems that can('t) be solved by such tools
Problems that can('t) be solved by such tools
Problems that can('t) be solved by such tools
Mental health of doctoral researchers
First mental health survey in 2017
Assessment of depression: PHQ-9
18% of DRs are moderately to severely depressed. This is twice as high as the prevalence of depression in the age group 18-34 years in the general population (Maske et al. 2016, J. Affect.Disord.).
Prevalence of depressive symptoms
18% of DRs are moderately to severely depressed. This is more than twice as high as the prevalence of depression in the age group 18-34 years (7.4%) in the general German population (Maske et al. 2016, J. Affect.Disord.).
Assessment of anxiety: State-trait anxiety inventory
Prevalence of anxiety
67% of DRs feel moderate to high anxiety at the time of the survey. 63% of DRs generally feel moderate to high anxiety.
Also about twice as high as levels reported in the general population: 30% report at least one anxiety related symptom within the last year (Adolph et al. 2016 in Front. Psychol.).
Demographic factors of depression
Demographic factors of depression
Demographic factors of anxiety
Demographic factors of anxiety
Relation of depression to work intensity
Relation of depression to work intensity
Relation of depression and anxiety to contract duration
Relation of depression and anxeity to supervision satisfaction
Relation of anxiety to bullying and harassment
Relation of anxiety to bullying and harassment
Mental health depends on many factors
https://www.phdnet.mpg.de/145345/PhDnet_Survey_Report_2019.pdfMental health depends on many factors
https://www.phdnet.mpg.de/145345/PhDnet_Survey_Report_2019.pdfImproving mental health of DRs in the MPS
Ingredients to drive change
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Frequent problems and (some) solutions
Banding together
Three of the four largest non-university research organisations in Germany + associate members: over 15 000 DRs.
Sharing the knowledge: survey reports
Max Planck PhDnet Survey report 2017
https://www.phdnet.mpg.de/125563/PhDnet_Survey_Report_2017.pdf
Max Planck PhDnet Survey report 2018
https://www.phdnet.mpg.de/125573/PhDnet_Survey_Report_2018.pdf
Max Planck PhDnet Survey report 2019
https://www.phdnet.mpg.de/145345/PhDnet_Survey_Report_2019.pdf
Sharing the knowledge: helpful resources
Re-use, adapt or extend our survey (CC-BY-SA 4.0):
https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/FVZ48
How to form a Thesis Advisory Committee:
https://www.mps.mpg.de/phd/tac
Very good example for a supervision agreement:
https://leibniz-phd.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Leibniz_PhD_Agreement_EN.pdf
Example for institutional guidelines for doing a PhD (in German):
https://www.mpg.de/richtlinie_doktorandenausbildung_2012
Max Planck PhDnet statutes:
https://www.phdnet.mpg.de/phdnet/what/statutes