A culture of kindness: overcoming bullying

Recognising bullying is the first step to overcoming it, says Eileen Parkes.

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No-one could fail to be moved by the video shared this week of a schoolboy crying over bullying. As adults we hope that we’ve moved away from school bullies. But in academia it seems that bullying is a persistent problem, with up to 42% of academics reporting some form of workplace bullying. In adult life, bullies rarely steal our lunch money or gum our hair. But they do steal our self-confidence, make us feel inadequate and question our work.  My own experience with bullying has taught me how to recognise it, and what to do to overcome it in the workplace.

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Being proactive about mental health during your PhD: a very short guide

Psychologist Karra Harrington shares some tips for Mental Health Awareness week.

When I started out in my PhD I was excited about the challenges I would face. Two and a half years later I’m still excited about my research, but, like most PhD projects, it‘s not all been smooth sailing. Rather than let how I was feeling derail my progress, I decided to use my training as a psychologist to develop ways to be proactive about managing mental health during the course of a PhD.

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