The Swiss-Wide Mental Health Survey (SWiMS) was a national initiative led by actionuni, the umbrella organisation of academic mid-level staff in Switzerland, and Eurodoc’s member. It was carried out together with 13 mid-level staff associations from higher education institutions across Switzerland.
Academic mid-level staff, including doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers and other early-to-mid-career academics, make up nearly half of Switzerland’s academic workforce and play a crucial role in research, teaching, and innovation. Yet, international research and local experience indicate that this group faces increasing pressure, job insecurity, and elevated stress levels. However, given that there are no national surveys in Switzerland available that assess the mental health of mid-level staff, the SWiMS survey was launched by actionuni.
Between May and October 2024, a total of 2,518 doctoral researchers, postdoctoral researchers, and other mid-level staff participated in the survey. The key findings were:
- 22% of respondents met the criteria for problematic depressive symptoms.
- 17% rated their mental health as poor or very poor.
- 24% feel burned out at least once per week.
- 39% report being completely stressed about uncertain career prospects (59% among postdocs)
- 53% do not clearly understand the mental health resources available to them; 67% doubt their effectiveness.
- 18% have personally experienced bullying, discrimination, or harassment in the past year; 55% have heard of such incidents.
- Despite these challenges, 61% report being rather satisfied with their job
A detailed analysis of the report highlights three main areas of concern that compromise the quality of research and the well-being of the researchers in Switzerland: precarious employment, unethical behaviour, and high competition. In light of these findings, actionuni advocates for systemic changes by higher education stakeholders to tackle the source of the issues affecting mid-level researchers’ mental health (see this letter by the actionuni co-presidency for details).
Read the full report on actionuni’s website and on Zenodo.