Please read the following information carefully before starting the survey. This study investigates how the cultural background of Global South researchers influences their mental health and their ability to seek help after migrating to the Global North. It examines the adequacy and cultural relevance of support systems in host institutions/countries and explores whether additional or tailored resources are needed. The goal is to highlight gaps and recommend inclusive, culturally sensitive practices that academic institutions in the Global North can adopt to support diverse scholars. To communicate the findings of this survey, the results from this study may be published or presented at research conferences. The survey exists of 22 open-ended and multiple-choice questions, and will take roughly 10-15 minutes to complete.
Confidentiality: The data collected in this study are completely anonymous. No personally identifiable information will be collected and the information you choose to provide in this study cannot be connected back to you. Since data is fully anonymized, please refrain from giving personally identifiable information in the open-ended questions, examples include: your- or other peoples- names, working place, specific projects you are working on or have worked on. Your responses to the survey will not be linked to your computer, email-address or other electronic identifiers and can in no way be linked back to you.
Use of data: Results from this study may be published or presented at research conferences, and the anonymous data may be shared with other researchers through an online data repository.
Voluntary Participation: Your participation in this study is voluntary and you may choose to end your participation at any time before submission. The survey will only be saved upon submission at the end of the survey. Please note that no data will be collected that can link back to your person (e.g. IP address, name, location), therefore it is not possible to withdraw your consent after submitting the survey.
Questions or concerns: If you have any questions or comments about this study, you may contact the researchers, please note that contacting the researchers about specific cases may lead to sharing personally identifiable information. All three researchers are actively engaged in equity work: two serve as Equal Opportunities officers at the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB), and one is the founder of a non-profit supporting South Asian women in STEMM. Two of the researchers also co-founded a mental health support group within this non-profit. The researchers note no conflict of interest, their involvement in this project reflects a shared commitment to communicating the needs of Global South researchers working in the Global North.
Dr. Harihar Jaishree Subrahmaniam, EO committee member at European Society of Evolutionary Biology; Program Developer and Lead, Paksh (Lotus STEMM); Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Hamburg, DE Click to view email address
MSc. Noah Hensen, EO committee member at European Society of Evolutionary Biology; PhD student, Stockholm University, SE Click to view email address
Dr. Roopali Chaudhary, Founder & CEO, Lotus STEMM; Senior Scientist (Cell Biology), Allarta Life Science; Research Associate, Department of Biology, McMaster University, Canada Click to view email address
Consent: I have read and understand the information given in the Consent section. I certify that I am 18 years old or older, and will fill in the survey only one time. By clicking the "Yes" button to enter the survey, I indicate my willingness to voluntarily take part in this study.
* You must choose "Yes" to submit this survey
Depending on the survey results, we might want to include anonymous quotes from open-ended questions to clearly communicate the needs of survey participants. It is up to you whether you feel comfortable with sharing direct quotes or not. Please note that the answer to this question does not change the ability to participate in the survey. If you click no, your survey is still valid- but we will refrain from using direct quotes from written information in public research communications (such as, but not limited to: Research paper, conferences, potential promotion of research output).
I consent for my text additions to be quoted in communications about the research project
* This is a mandatory question. Choose Yes or No.
The survey consists of 22 questions in total, divided into multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Answers will only be saved once you click the submit button at the end of the questionnaire (question 23). For multiple-choice questions, you can select all options that apply to you.
Section 3: Mental Health Support and Barriers (3/4)
13. Have you experienced mental health challenges since moving abroad?
Please explain types of challenges, if you would like ( e.g., anxiety, burnout):
14. Have you accessed any mental health support? (Select all that apply)
15. How accessible were these resources to you?
(0 = No Answer, 1 = Not Accessible, 5 = Very Accessible)
16. How culturally appropriate or sensitive were the resources you accessed?
(0 = No Answer, 1 = Not Accessible, 5 = Very Accessible)
17. If you did not access mental health resources, what prevented you?
(e.g., stigma, cost, language, time, irrelevance):
18. Has your perspective on mental health changed since moving abroad?
Please elaborate if you would like: