In this fabulous episode, Dr Petia Petrova talks to us about academia, stress, burnout and wellbeing. Petia discusses the nature of academia and its propensity to cause stress, as well as the possibility for burnout. Petia also discusses the processing of stress, various coping mechanisms that may support academic colleagues to manage their emotions and subsequent stress responses more effectively, as well as many other fascinating insights gained from her own experiences as an academic and from her own Serious Leisure Podcast. podcast . This is a fantastic episode! Enjoy!

Dr Petia Petrova is Associate Director of Academic Practice at the University of the West of England - Bristol. Petia has worked in HE for 20 years, much of her work has involved leading and working on a range of institution-wide change initiatives. In the last 10 years of her career, Petia’s focus has been the development and support of early career, as well as experienced academics. At UWE, Petia has created three staff CPD programmes: Programme and Module Leader Development, Introduction to Teaching and Learning in HE, and Improvisation Skills for Teaching. In 2020, in response to the pandemic, and recognising the important role hobbies can play in recovering from trauma and stress, Petia launched the Serious Leisure podcast with Kat Branch and Sam Elkington.

In this episode Petia shares reflections from her own career in HE, her work as an educational developer, and as a host of the Serious Leisure Podcast.