University student wellbeing is increasingly seen as a concern, and as demands on university staff time for research, teaching, leadership and pastoral support also increase, this is mirrored in concerns about staff wellbeing. Dominant sectoral narratives frame student and staff wellbeing as oppositional, with initiatives to support student wellbeing positioned as creating additional practical and emotional demands on staff time and resources. Using a large qualitative dataset collected in the UK, including staff and students, this paper argues that that this does not have to be the case. Instead, there is a need to look beyond the provision of reactive services or isolated individual interventions, to proactively and cohesively embed cultural and structural change across the whole institution to support positive wellbeing outcomes for the whole university community. We report on the intrinsic interconnection between staff and student wellbeing; the importance of formal institutional policies in supporting or impeding staff and student wellbeing; access to training interventions to support staff and student wellbeing as a practical manifestation of these policies; and the impact of workplace culture and the centrality of compassion and community. The paper finds that it is important that institutions within higher education acknowledge and respond proactively to both staff and student wellbeing issues. To do so, institutions should seek to foster a sustainable and effective academic environment with a whole university approach.

This paper draws on staff and student consultations conducted during the development of Student Minds’ University Mental Health Charter to identify five key tensions which can arise in assessment design and strategy when seeking to balance the wellbeing of students with pedagogical, practical and policy considerations. It highlights the need to acknowledge the pressures of assessment on staff wellbeing as well as students. The particular tensions explored include the need to balance challenge against the psychological threats this can entail; the varying impacts of traditional and novel forms of assessment; the differing demands of collaborative and individual work; the tensions between ideal strategies and those which are practically feasible; and the ways in which feedback is given (as a constructive learning tool) and received (often as a psychological threat). These tensions can provide a valuable point of reflection for educators who need to critically and proactively navigate these conflicts within their own assessment design and practices, as part of a wider whole university approach to promoting student wellbeing.

Whilst existing evidence has demonstrated the imperative of social integration, inclusion, and belonging for student mental health, students often report relational challenges, barriers, and stressors at university. Drawing on thematic analysis of six student co-creation panels conducted during the Student Minds University Mental Health Charter consultations, this paper aims to elucidate student perspectives and proposals for promoting mental health at university by enhancing interpersonal interactions and social relationships. In particular, student panels identified existing challenges and opportunities to address social isolation, conflict, and exclusion in interactions with peers, academic staff, and the local community. The findings of this paper both echo and develop the principles of good practice propounded by the University Mental Health Charter, whilst the implications for university policy in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic are also discussed.

Independent learning is frequently identified as instrumental to student success within higher education. Although there is a significant body of literature demonstrating the importance of independent learning for retention and progression, to date, the relationship between independent learning and student wellbeing within higher education has been under-explored. This article addresses the gap in the literature by interrogating this relationship, with a particular emphasis on the barriers and enablers to independent learning and the implications for the wellbeing of university students as part of a whole university approach. Drawing on data from a large national student survey and nine focus groups with university staff conducted during the formulation of the University Mental Health Charter, the findings demonstrate important intersectionalities between independent learning and student wellbeing. In particular, they highlight that facilitating independent learning has the potential to allow students to flourish in higher education but only when factors relating to accessibility, inclusivity, expectations, and goals are explicitly addressed. Going forward, it is imperative that these links are more widely acknowledged and addressed within higher education research, policy, and practice to ensure that students are supported to develop as learners during both their transition into university and their journey through and beyond their studies.

Stereotypes in the media both reflect and perpetuate the notion that science is a masculine pursuit. The aim of the current study is to explore whether such stereotypes extend to imagery within children’s science books. To determine the extent of stereotypes in gender representation, both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted. Results demonstrated that females were under-represented in images across the books surveyed. Analyses of images of adults demonstrated under-representation of women in both physics and mathematics books, but images of children showed no significant difference between genders. Analyses of the target age of the children’s books revealed that books targeted at older children contained fewer images of adult females. Qualitative visual analyses revealed that books about space exploration trivialized women’s expertise, diminished their perceived technical competence, failed to acknowledge their contribution or presence and represented them in a manner that suggested that they were passive, lower status and superficial. Books about science that are currently available to children in libraries are not balanced in terms of their representation of gender. More balanced imagery in children’s science books of women actively participating in scientific occupations would help to demonstrate that careers in these areas are meaningful, fulfilling and achievable for women.