The Mindfulness Framework in Higher Education and What Academics (Should) Care for

Abstract

Mindfulness, or the “mental state or attitude in which one focuses one's awareness on the present moment” (Oxford English Dictionary 2023), has often been advocated as an excellent instrument in schools to develop the students’ learning potential and their ability to make sense of an increasingly complex society. However, relatively few studies have applied a mindfulness approach to the hectic working lives of academics and presented it as a way out of the stressful demands of management-driven quality parameters. The present study intends to explore the role played by a mindfulness approach in higher education to help academics cope with stressful work conditions and also enhance their focus, skills and sense of worth. On the basis of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of a sample of British universities web pages, the meanings and implications of mindfulness in diverse academic contexts are investigated and conclusions are drawn in light of the managerial university agenda and the overwhelming ethos of academic productivity at all costs.