Mental health in the workplace is gaining the attention of many organizations. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there are some solutions/steps that organizations can take to address this issue. Some of these steps/solutions are make mental health self-assessment tools available to all employees, offer free or subsidized clinical screenings for depression, offer health insurance with no or low out-of-pocket costs for medications and counseling, and provide free or subsidized lifestyle coaching, counseling, or self-management programs. Additionally, organizations can help by distributing materials about the signs and symptoms of poor mental health and treatment resources as well as host workshops for stress management and depression.
https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/tools-resources/workplace-health/mental-health/index.html
There's been a lot of discussion on burnout and stress in many areas of psychology but mostly I see it in I/O psychology. Burnout and work-related stress are a rising concern for many professionals. However, many of my clinical friends (i.e., such as PsyDs and nurses) are feeling burnout due to excessive work hours and a shortage of staffing. I've seen burnout in academia as well. Some key things to help mitigate burnout is managing one's stress and being self-aware when feeling overwhelmed and stressed.
Thoughts?
I was reading the following article on AI skills and increased salaries. Based on a study conducted by researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute and the Center for Social Data Science @ the University of Copenhagen, it was found that employees with artificial intelligence skills are "particularly valuable," and demand higher salaries, 21% to 40% higher.
https://phys.org/news/2023-10-artificial-intelligence-skills-salaries.html
Thoughts?
The Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (SIOP) has shared the top 10 workplace trends in 2023. These trends include:
Trend #1: Rethinking the employee experience of remote workers.
Trend #2: Best practices for managing a hybrid workforce.
Trend #3: Managing the transition into the post pandemic world.
Trend #4: Ensuring inclusive environments and cultures.
Trend #5: Talent attraction and retention in a candidate-driven market.
Trend #6: Reshaping work to address employee’s mental health.
Trend #7: Revisiting people strategies in times of economic uncertainty.
Trend #8: Psychological safety in the workplace.
Trend #9: Leadership development and coaching.
Trend #10: Integrating work, life, and family. https://www.siop.org/Business-Resources/Top-10-Work-Trends
Some academic career advice I have to share includes time management, self-discipline, reading, application of critical thinking, goal planning, and embracing your public speaking skills. Thougths?
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), suicides in the United States reached an all-time high in 2022. In fact, there was about a 3% increase from 2021. To put this into perspective, 49,500 individuals in the U.S. took their own lives in 2022. Per the CDC, older adults had the largest increase in suicide with approximately 7% of individuals between the ages of 45 to 64, and more than 8% of individuals 65 and older.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/mental-health/cdc-data-finds-suicides-reached-time-high-2022-rcna99327
The top 5 business issues of higher education include supporting and maintaining the workforce, ensuring successful student outcomes, securing and modernizing technology systems, navigating affordability and enrollment management and meeting physical infrastructure needs.
https://www.nacubo.org/Research/2023%20Top%20Business%20Issues
Quality management [QM] includes various measures taken at both system and institutional levels regarding the effectiveness of internal and external evaluative processes, improvements, implementation of corrective measure and management of resources. For various reasons, these measures aren't always implemented equally within an academic institution. QM in higher education is multifaceted and requires transparency, accountability for funding, research productivity, and best practices for effective teaching and learning. With that said, QM demands have been a bit of a challenge to deal with. Why do you think this is?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8843415/
Great webinar! AI is powerful and can do all sorts of things. I liked the breakdown definitions for AI, ML and DL. Also, the timeline of definitions and categories of AI were quite interesting.
What are your thoughts on climate change and sustainability in higher education? I found a great article that focuses on higher education providing students an understanding of sustainability and the challenges as well as how to contribute to such efforts.
https://www.higheredjobs.com/Articles/articleDisplay.cfm?ID=3622&Title=Sustainability%20in%20Higher%20Ed%3A%20Good%20for%20the%20Environment%20and%20Your%20Campus
Some tips / advice I can offer future researchers are as follows.
1. Secure a good mentor (one who communicates and provides feedback).
2. Seeking additional funding opportunities.
3. Give yourself permission to take breaks, self-care.
4. Do your best to not take things personally from your mentor and others (easier said than done).
5. Network with others.
6. Publishing scholarly, well written papers.
I also found an article that shares tips for the next generation of researchers.
https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2021/12/09/tips-for-the-next-generation-of-researchers/
Wow, what an informative webinar! I've not heard of digital biology. I can see how machine learning and machine learning models would be of great benefit for people.
I was looking at some current trends in higher education and there are quite a few. One that I'll speak to is the increase in non-traditional students. I love to see this! As a lifelong learner and an educator, it makes me happy to know that non-traditional students are going to college or back to college. Advances in technology as well as institutions altering their policies and learning models has played a significant role in the influx of non-traditional students.
https://research.com/education/trends-in-higher-education
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