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Responsibility and other dangerous ideas: who cares, who can, and who should in higher education

N.C. Byrom Orcid Logo, A. Dodd Orcid Logo, Sarah Crook Orcid Logo, P. C. Jackman Orcid Logo, E. Watkins Orcid Logo, N. Armstrong Orcid Logo

Higher Education Research & Development, Pages: 1 - 17

Swansea University Author: Sarah Crook Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/07294360.2026.2643242

Abstract

Universities are increasingly expected to assume greater responsibility for student mental health, with recent debates in the UK questioning whether institutions should hold a statutory duty of care. This paper critically examines what such responsibility might mean, who within the university is pos...

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Published in: Higher Education Research & Development
ISSN: 0729-4360 1469-8366
Published: Informa UK Limited 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71700
first_indexed 2026-04-01T10:27:01Z
last_indexed 2026-04-03T03:30:54Z
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spelling 2026-04-01T11:32:42.0480595 v2 71700 2026-04-01 Responsibility and other dangerous ideas: who cares, who can, and who should in higher education b35484cf604604b6d6bc6873677417d1 0000-0002-1288-1488 Sarah Crook Sarah Crook true false 2026-04-01 HICL Universities are increasingly expected to assume greater responsibility for student mental health, with recent debates in the UK questioning whether institutions should hold a statutory duty of care. This paper critically examines what such responsibility might mean, who within the university is positioned to enact it, and the potential consequences of formalising responsibility through regulation. We distinguish between three overlapping forms of responsibility: a moral drive to care, grounded in empathy and relational connection; a legal duty to do no harm, which remains narrow and reactive; and a preventative responsibility, focused on building safe and supportive environments. Drawing on existing policy and research, we highlight the uneven distribution of responsibility across frontline staff, particularly academics, who often lack adequate training, recognition, and institutional support. We argue that regulation risks displacing authentic care, exacerbating inequalities, and contributing to burnout, while doing little to address structural conditions. Finally, we consider whether increased institutional responsibility serves students’ best interests, warning that it may undermine opportunities for students to develop autonomy and agency. We conclude that rather than expanding regulation, universities should prioritise time, resources, and authentic relationships that enable both staff and students to share responsibility for community wellbeing. Journal Article Higher Education Research &amp; Development 0 1 17 Informa UK Limited 0729-4360 1469-8366 Mental health; duty of care; institutional responsibility; university policy; regulation 22 3 2026 2026-03-22 10.1080/07294360.2026.2643242 COLLEGE NANME Classics COLLEGE CODE HICL Swansea University This work was funded by the Medical Research Council within the UKRI Adolescent Mental Health and Developing Minds Scheme project to the project titled: Developing and Evaluating a Stepped Change Whole-University approach for Student Wellbeing and Mental Health (Nurture-U) (MR/W002442/1). 2026-04-01T11:32:42.0480595 2026-04-01T11:24:39.4469659 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - History N.C. Byrom 0000-0003-2104-550x 1 A. Dodd 0000-0002-8872-2272 2 Sarah Crook 0000-0002-1288-1488 3 P. C. Jackman 0000-0002-5756-4494 4 E. Watkins 0000-0002-2432-5577 5 N. Armstrong 0000-0001-5458-9066 6 71700__36468__78d13c21b94e434b8122d5d9175f054a.pdf 71700.VoR.pdf 2026-04-01T11:27:53.9638305 Output 1358337 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Responsibility and other dangerous ideas: who cares, who can, and who should in higher education
spellingShingle Responsibility and other dangerous ideas: who cares, who can, and who should in higher education
Sarah Crook
title_short Responsibility and other dangerous ideas: who cares, who can, and who should in higher education
title_full Responsibility and other dangerous ideas: who cares, who can, and who should in higher education
title_fullStr Responsibility and other dangerous ideas: who cares, who can, and who should in higher education
title_full_unstemmed Responsibility and other dangerous ideas: who cares, who can, and who should in higher education
title_sort Responsibility and other dangerous ideas: who cares, who can, and who should in higher education
author_id_str_mv b35484cf604604b6d6bc6873677417d1
author_id_fullname_str_mv b35484cf604604b6d6bc6873677417d1_***_Sarah Crook
author Sarah Crook
author2 N.C. Byrom
A. Dodd
Sarah Crook
P. C. Jackman
E. Watkins
N. Armstrong
format Journal article
container_title Higher Education Research &amp; Development
container_volume 0
container_start_page 1
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 0729-4360
1469-8366
doi_str_mv 10.1080/07294360.2026.2643242
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - History{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - History
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description Universities are increasingly expected to assume greater responsibility for student mental health, with recent debates in the UK questioning whether institutions should hold a statutory duty of care. This paper critically examines what such responsibility might mean, who within the university is positioned to enact it, and the potential consequences of formalising responsibility through regulation. We distinguish between three overlapping forms of responsibility: a moral drive to care, grounded in empathy and relational connection; a legal duty to do no harm, which remains narrow and reactive; and a preventative responsibility, focused on building safe and supportive environments. Drawing on existing policy and research, we highlight the uneven distribution of responsibility across frontline staff, particularly academics, who often lack adequate training, recognition, and institutional support. We argue that regulation risks displacing authentic care, exacerbating inequalities, and contributing to burnout, while doing little to address structural conditions. Finally, we consider whether increased institutional responsibility serves students’ best interests, warning that it may undermine opportunities for students to develop autonomy and agency. We conclude that rather than expanding regulation, universities should prioritise time, resources, and authentic relationships that enable both staff and students to share responsibility for community wellbeing.
published_date 2026-03-22T07:01:28Z
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