Background: Faculty and Student Well-Being
Well-being refers to individuals’ overall positive evaluation toward life aspects (e.g., physical, emotional, or social well-being), and has been emphasized in studies of tourists and destination residents (e.g., Uysal et al., 2016; Yolal et al., 2016), and hospitality employees (e.g., Kara et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2020), as well as faculty and students in hospitality and tourism education (e.g., Jogaratnam & Buchanan, 2004; Tang et al., 2020). Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, starting in the spring of 2020, faculty and student well-being became a serious concern in hospitality and tourism education because of the challenges to connected with the transfer of in-person classes and operational training sessions to virtual/hybrid settings, worries about the future development of hospitality and tourism industries, and potential health risks related to in-person interactions during internships and in face-to-face classrooms (Lee & Deale, 2021; Park & Jones, 2021). Furthermore, as the world has moved on through the pandemic, starting in 2022, faculty and student well-being have been influenced by another series of factors such as anxieties about potential future job losses caused by increasing adoptions of service robots, expected heavy workloads in the industries due to labor shortages, and new requirements to learn contemporary technologies (e.g., metaverse, artificial intelligence, and robots) for emerging applications in the industries (Deale & Webb, 2022; Khaliq et al., 2022; Kwok, 2022; Siow et al., 2021; Xu et al., 2022).
Background: Mindfulness and Mental Health Interventions
To help faculty and students cope with the well-being crisis mentioned above, mindfulness and mental health interventions have been introduced in higher education to not only help faculty (Emerson et al., 2017) and students (Bamber & Morpeth, 2019) perform well in classes, but also to support students as they face career challenges after graduation (Galles et al., 2019). Meanwhile, as the world has moved toward the post-pandemic era, Stankov et al. (2020) advocated for a shift toward mindfulness-driven tourism, which focuses on more compassionate and meaningful human interactions to re-build the positivity of humanity and well-being in human society. Examples of traditional mindfulness and mental health interventions include guided meditation, yoga, qigong, tai chi, focused breathing, mindful eating, mindful walking, Zen tea, and forest bathing (Wang et al., 2021). With the advancement of modern technology, various apps (e.g., Headspace, Calm, or Healthy Minds Program) and technology products (e.g., Muse 2 Meditation Headband, AROMEO Sense Smart Sleep Aid, and Dreamlight Rechargeable Sleep Mask) have been developed to foster benefits of mindfulness and mental health interventions (Stankov & Filimonau, 2020).
Some of the apps and technology products can be facilitated by hospitality and tourism educators with classroom technology to improve learning and teaching experiences, and some of them have been adopted by luxury resorts and wellness destinations where students will need to assist tourists’ usage during their internship or work experiences. Meanwhile, firms are in the beginning stage of implementing technology-assisted mindfulness and mental health interventions in employee training and employee benefit programs, powering intern and new employees with quality mental recovery and psychological resources to cope with stressors at work (Berg-Beckhoff et al., 2017). These interventions are important implementations in the hospitality and tourism workplace to help interns and new employees become more resilient and be able to thrive at work.
Aims and Subject Coverage
Taken together, the special issue of “Mindfulness and mental health in hospitality and tourism education and the workplace” aims to contribute knowledge and practical implications of mindfulness and mental health interventions for those engaged in higher education and the hospitality and tourism industries. Through the special issue, we are hoping to support not only faculty and student well-being, but also intern and new employee resilience, such that all of them can thrive in their future careers in hospitality and tourism industries. Both conceptual (e.g., systematic reviews of mindfulness and mental health interventions and issues) and empirical studies (e.g., testing effects of mindfulness and mental health interventions) are welcome to be submitted to this special issue. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to the following:
- Innovative mindfulness and mental health interventions
- Mindfulness and mental health technology in the classroom or the workplace
- Preparing students for resilience and helping them thrive as they transition from the classroom to a career
- Faculty mindfulness, mental health, and/or well-being
- Student mindfulness, mental health, and/or well-being
- Intern and new employee mindfulness, mental health, and/or well-being
