Teaching evaluations and academic wellbeing: an Australian survey

Updated Sep 07, 2026

A survey of Australian academics raises questions about how universities use student evaluations of teaching (SETs) in staff decisions. Stone and colleagues examine perceived effects of numerical ratings and written comments on wellbeing. Their findings support careful interpretation, without establishing that SETs caused mental ill-health.

What the researchers found

The anonymous, cross-sectional survey recruited 574 academics from 41 universities through purposive approaches. It used a Health and Wellbeing Scale (HWS) about perceived SET impacts alongside the DASS-21 distress measure.

Both HWS measures correlated with depression, anxiety and stress. When both were included with demographic controls, only the qualitative-feedback HWS retained statistically significant unique associations with all three outcomes. This distinction matters: significance of an overall model does not mean every predictor is independently significant.

The authors recommend reconsidering SETs' role in promotion, appraisal and contract renewal, including other forms of teaching evidence. They also acknowledge underrepresentation of casual academics and minority groups. These recommendations were not tested as interventions.

Applying this to evaluation practice

Our practical suggestion is to document how evaluation evidence travels from a survey response into a decision. Quality teams can record the response rate, the purpose of each question, relevant teaching context and the other evidence considered. A review meeting should make clear which conclusions the data support and which require further investigation.

For open comments, agree who may access raw text and how concerns receive appropriate attention. Recurring themes can help organise review, but frequency should not determine whether a serious individual report is investigated. Student criticism and staff wellbeing both need a fair process. Our governance checklist offers questions for designing that process; it is not an intervention evaluated by this study.

FAQ

Does this prove evaluations cause distress?

No. Cross-sectional self-reports cannot establish the direction of causation. Perceived harm and distress may be related for several reasons.

Should universities discard student feedback?

The practical task is to examine its purpose, interpretation and weight in decisions. No single analysis should be treated as a complete judgement of an individual's teaching.

Reference

Stone, S. E., Jefferies, G., Lee, M., & Davis, C. (2026). Impacts of student evaluations of teaching on Australian university academics. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education.

Correction, 7 September 2026: revised the causal framing, distinguished the adjusted findings and clarified sampling limitations following review of the published full text.