Mental Health in European Economics Departments

Elisa Macchi (), Clara Sievert (), Valentin Bolotnyy and Paul Barreira ()
Additional contact information
Elisa Macchi: Brown University
Clara Sievert: Harvard University
Paul Barreira: Harvard University

No 16309, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study the mental health of graduate students and faculty at 14 Economics departments in Europe. Using clinically validated surveys sent out in the fall of 2021, we find that 34.7% of graduate students experience moderate to severe symptoms of depression or anxiety and 17.3% report suicidal or self-harm ideation in a two-week period. Only 19.2% of students with significant symptoms are in treatment. 15.8% of faculty members experience moderate to severe depression or anxiety symptoms, with prevalence higher among non-tenure track (42.9%) and tenure track (31.4%) faculty than tenured (9.6%) faculty. We estimate that the COVID-19 pandemic accounts for about 74% of the higher prevalence of depression symptoms and 30% of the higher prevalence of anxiety symptoms in our European sample relative to a 2017 U.S. sample of economics graduate students. We also document issues in the work environment, including a high incidence of sexual harassment, and make recommendations for improvement.

Keywords: student mental health; faculty mental health; wellbeing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A23 I12 I18 I23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 146 pages
Date: 2023-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-sog
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