Mentoring as Prevention: Integrating Emotional Well-Being into Lab Safety Culture

There is a mental health crisis in academia affecting researchers and students at all levels. Reports today continue to highlight a problem that was raised nearly 30 years ago. That is not to say significant progress has not been made; simply having the topic on the minds of institutions is an achievement. However, there are costs associated with not proactively addressing this issue using all the tools we faculty have, just as strides have been made over the last 30 years in physical safety. I argue that these issues are interconnected and that physical and emotional safety are equally essential. It is our collective responsibility─faculty, students, staff, and bystanders─to actively foster a culture of safety. Here, I introduce the framework, STEM (Safely Teaching Empowerment Mentorship), which I use to intentionally address this challenge and offer suggestions for others to develop their own approaches.