This book focuses on the lived experiences of higher education professionals working in the face of stress, pressure and the threat of burnout and how acts of self-care and wellbeing can support, develop and maintain a sense of self. In considering the place of self-care in higher education, we are challenged with the tension that exists when it comes to the valuing of self-care and our individual and collective wellbeing. In Reflections on Valuing Wellbeing in Higher Education, authors present and explore the ways in which they manage and reframe their wellbeing and self-care, through mindfulness, compassion, connection to breath, ref lection, demonstrating individual and collective embodiment and resistance to neoliberalism and environmental destruction. Covering various contexts of higher education, such as learning and teaching, research, leadership and engagement, this book offers practical strategies grounded in literature and evidence-based research. The self in self-care is relational. It is not just about self. We need others for inspiration, motivation and, indeed, the act. This book will be of great interest to professionals and researchers specifically interested in studies in higher education, wellbeing and/or identity as well as those navigating a career in higher education.

Presenting a collective international story, this book demonstrates the importance of compassion as an act of self-care in the face of change and disruption, providing guidance on how to cope under trying conditions in higher education settings. Practising Compassion in Higher Education presents an opportunity to learn through story and by taking proactive action for our wellbeing. It highlights the need to protect and maintain the wellbeing of staff and students, positioning the COVID-19 pandemic as a major catalyst of disruption. The chapters connect theory with lived experience, exploring self-compassion in work and research, compassion in teaching practice and within the personal/professional blur. The book’s contributors bring a range of theoretical and personal perspectives from various global contexts, sharing their own approaches to self-care and how compassion has become a central and crucial element of this practice. This book takes a unique approach to navigating and surviving the higher education environment and offers valuable lessons for the pandemic era and beyond. This will be an essential resource for students and professionals working in all areas of higher education.

With a focus on skills development, this book provides guidance on how to navigate transitions between career stages in higher education and how to maintain wellbeing in the process. In a fast-paced and ever-changing environment, a career path in higher education can demand rapid transition. This book provides comprehensive coverage of the kinds of transitions one may face in higher education and how to navigate them successfully while focusing on wellbeing and self-care. Centred around first-person accounts, the chapters illustrate the key issues around transitions and their impacts and provide suggestions for how to adapt through self-care. The authors offer insights from their own personal experiences, enabling the reader to develop an action plan of their own or to share with and guide students and early career mentees. The tools and strategies outlined in the book make up a library of resources that can be called upon at any stage of the journey. Written with all career stages in mind, this book will be an essential resource for new and experienced researchers alike.

Supporting Student and Faculty Wellbeing in Graduate Education recognizes new pressures impacting graduate students and their supervisors, teachers, and mentors globally. The work provides a range of insights and strategies which reflect on wellbeing as an integral part of teaching, learning, policy, and student-mentor relationships. The authors offer a uniquely holistic approach to supporting the wellbeing of both students and academic staff in graduate education. The text showcases optimized approaches to self-care, self-regulation, and policy development, as well as trauma-informed, arts-based, and embodied pedagogies. Particular attention is given to the challenges faced by minority groups including Indigenous, international, refugee, and immigrant students and staff. Providing a timely analysis of the current issues surrounding student and faculty wellbeing, this volume will appeal to scholars and researchers working across the fields of higher education, sociology of education, educational psychology, and student affairs.

Prioritizing wellbeing alongside academic development, this book provides practical advice to help students write well, and be well, during their PhD and throughout their career. In this unique book, Katherine Firth offers expert guidance on developing a writing practice and avoiding burnout, providing strategies and insights for developing a sustainable writing career beyond the PhD thesis. The book covers every stage of the academic writing process, from planning and researching, through getting words on the page, to the often unexpectedly time-consuming editing and polishing. Readers are reminded that writing a thesis is hard work, but it needn’t be damaging work. Each chapter includes a toolbox of strategies and techniques, such as meditations, writing exercises and tips to maintain physical wellbeing, that will help doctoral candidates start writing and keep writing, without sacrificing their health, wellbeing or relationships. Relevant at any stage of the writing process, this book will help doctoral students and early career researchers to produce great words that people want to read, examiners want to pass and editors want to publish.

Through a lens of self-care and wellbeing, this book shares stories of struggle and success from a diverse range of women in academia. Each story highlights how these women mitigated and overcame various barriers as part of their academic trajectory and provides practical strategies for maintaining self-care and wellbeing. Taken from lived experience, the autoethnographic narrative approach provides a deeper, personal understanding of the obstacles faced by women throughout an academic career and guidance on how these might be navigated in a way that avoids self-sacrificing. This collection goes further to illustrate the ways that higher education institutions can be more accommodating of the needs of women.

This book offers a comprehensive review of crowdfunding at Higher Education Institutions, both in theory and practice. In addition, it sheds new light on the emerging concept of crowdfunding at Higher Education Institutions and presents an overview of current academic discussions and best practices regarding crowdfunding in education. Approaching crowdfunding from an integrated perspective, the book explores the relationship between crowdfunding and higher education institutions from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The theory part outlines why higher institutions should interact with crowdfunding platforms beyond the goal of simply raising funds. It continues to define science crowdfunding and education crowdfunding and provides a literature review of education crowdfunding. It follows with an outline of teaching alternative finance theory. The practice part consists of an attempt to develop a core curriculum for teaching crowdfunding, with cases stemming from university education as well as professional education. Two contributions deal with the implementation of crowdfunding platforms at universities. Furthermore, crowdfunding is then connected to non-fungible tokens used to alleviate student debt. Lastly, crowdfunding is put into the context of crowdsourcing practices. It includes contributions from international academics, scholars and professionals in the field and provides a global, multidimensional perspective on crowdfunding. Lastly, the book is unique in that it points the way forward, both for policymakers and for the research community, in terms of thinking about crowdfunding at Higher Education Institutions and the complex issues surrounding its development.

In the intricate tapestry of life there exist moments in our lives that define us as individuals and as part of our communities. To gain insights into what makes a great leader, we can learn from those who have built the road before us. A profound exploration of pivotal experiences that shape the personal and professional trajectories of women in academia will help pave the way for the leaders of the future. Navigating the intersection of both personal and professional spheres, the book, Narratives on Defining Moments for Women Leaders in Higher Education, delves into the profound impact of high-impact moments in the lives of women in leadership roles. Drawing on personal anecdotes and evidence-based practices, readers gain insight into the strategies, solutions, and resilience cultivated by women leaders in colleges and universities. From tales of perseverance and empowerment to reflections on reframing and reinvention, each narrative offers a unique perspective on the journey of women in academia.

Time for Reflection is a comprehensive handbook for school chaplains and all with responsibility for ensuring the spiritual development of children and young people. It offers clear and essential guidance on a wide variety of topics. In addition, busy chaplains will welcome the range of tried and tested ideas for assemblies and other acts of religious observance, and the directory of online resources for chaplaincy ministry. Framed within Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence, and grounded in academic research, new and experienced chaplains everywhere will find Time for Reflection an invaluable guide.