Cripping The Exhaustion Economy

Radically Reimagining the Neoliberal Academy from the Sick Bed

Get Involved

Survey and interview recruitment closed

We’ve now closed the survey and interview recruitment for this research. We’ve been overwhelmed with the response – around 240 people responded, and the qualitative data from the surveys is around 118,000 words. We’re now busy analysing these.

We have also been following up with interviews and focus groups, and have a few more of these lined up. Far more people with ELC still working in academia volunteered for an interview than we have the capacity to speak to and we had a great response to our call for people who have previously worked in academia but have since left academic work.

We want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who spent energy and time completing the survey and volunteering for interview / focus group, we know it is in short supply.

Who has been involved

Survey, interview and focus group eligibility has been anyone who currently, or has previously worked in UK academic roles who has an Energy limiting Condition or experiences Energy Impairment.

For the purpose of the research, we are defining an academic role as a role in which substantial contractual responsibilities involve teaching and/or research in Higher Education, including delivery of HE programmes in Further Education institutions. This includes PhD students who have teaching or research contracts alongside their PhD, but not those who are solely doing a PhD because the processes for reasonable adjustments are different for employees and students.

We have included people who experience symptoms of energy impairment regardless of whether they have a formal diagnosis of an ELC, because it can take years to get a formal diagnosis. See our Home page for more information on what ELCs are.

Methodology

The research is using the following qualitative methodologies to collect information on the experiences of academics (both those who still work in academic roles and those who have left academia) with energy limiting conditions / chronic illnesses:

A qualitative survey, open to any academics with Energy Limiting Chronic Illness / Conditions (including self-diagnosed) who both still work in academia and who have left academia.
Focus group using participatory network mapping to map the political economy of UK academia. “Network narratives” from the surveys and focus group will record participants’ accounts of institutions/practices that drain energy.
Interviews (with people in academia and who have left). With a choice of stand-alone interview, interviews based on autobiographical accounts of the impact of ELCI over their career, or energy-budget diary-based interviews. People will be able to choose the format of these that fit best with their energy level, including zoom, phone, email interviews.
Autobiographical account and energy-budget diary (kept by Bethan).
Critical analysis of disability policy from key institutions.
Participatory analysis focus group reflecting on data themes and revisiting the network maps using an imaginary ‘energy budget’ to identify possibilities to reimagine academic practices in ways that save energy.