The FAFSA debacle. Campus protests. Battles over free speech and diversity. Those are among the leading drivers of mounting stress for college and university employees. A new study of the academic workplace offers a potentially overlooked—but hardly surprising—solution: Kindness.
That goes for kindness received but not necessarily for kindness given, says the report, whose authors have created a tool to measure the two behaviors.
The report, by two higher ed wellness researchers, also contends that the lack of well-being in the higher ed workplace “may be attributed to the current academic context, which does not consistently provide cues that affirm social inclusion to all members of the academic population.”
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It defines kindness as “actions that affirm dignity and social inclusion” that help create a sense of belonging for faculty and staff. They analyzed the experiences for about 180 higher ed employees from diverse backgrounds.
Here are the report’s key findings:
- Receiving kindness was significantly associated with increased well-being, reduced stress and improved institutional identity.
- Feeling safe and being acknowledged are the most commonly described experiences of kindness—both acts that affirm dignity.
- Reflecting on experiences of kindness promotes positivity and is likely to encourage conducting further acts of kindness.
- Measuring kindness can assess whether institutional changes foster greater positivity and inclusion.
- Academics who receive kindness are more likely to be kind to others.
When it comes to giving kindness, however, the researchers found this behavior did not reduce stress or increase institutional identity. “People who are ‘too kind’ or constantly being the ‘kind one’ become fatigued as the relationship is not reciprocal,” the report explains. “They do not receive kindness as much as they give kindness.”
The authors recommend including their kindness scales in campus climate surveys that measure communication practices and initiatives around anti-racism and restorative justice. Higher ed leaders should also consider providing faculty and staff with training “on how to be kind” to create to supportive and socially connected academic workplaces.
