Higher degrees are hard-going, so three Uni Melbourne researchers asked nearly 600 students what help they needed

Tracii Ryan, Chi Baik and Wendy Larcombe (all Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education report grad students say they would benefit from a “whole-of-university approach” to support them and a research culture that values “the wellbeing of all.”

Key findings include,

* recognition of students’ contributions and challenges in their departments and among their broader scholarly communities

* changes to “toxic” work cultures, where over-commitment and poor work–life balance are regarded as “normal”

* more support from supervisors and, “greater oversight and accountability of supervisors so that problematic practices could be identified and remedied more readily”

* increased job resources for HDR students, “that would assist them to manage the unique job demands of doctoral study”

Overall, “our study suggests that the wellbeing of all members of academic research communities needs to be better supported if the high levels of distress among HDRs are to be addressed”