Supporting Instructor Well-Being

Dear Professor,

As your students, we care deeply about your well-being. We know that creating equitable, compassionate learning spaces can be demanding emotional work. In this section, we are eager to explore how to improve and uphold your well-being, particularly within the larger process of creating more inclusive and equitable classroom spaces.

As GWSS students, we feel a responsibility to recognize the unique challenges present in the roles of all faculty and staff involved in student instruction. Faculty burnout is becoming a more frequent topic, especially post-pandemic, and for good reason. It is important to recognize the stressors of work in higher education and the prevalence of burnout. With that understanding, we also know it is an incredible challenge to support students and learning if you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or burnt-out yourself.

In this section, we explore three central themes: understanding burnout and its contributors, strategies for combatting burnout, and understanding how small, incremental change can create an impact.