How do academics handle their job-related stress?

Abstract

Academics at tertiary institutions often reflect on the emotional impact their
profession has on them and they mention tension, anxiety and stress. Research on
stress has indicated that people in the helping professions dealing with people,
especially those in the teaching professions, are particularly prone to emotional
distress. Yet information regarding the stress-related emotions specifically
experienced by academic lecturers at institutions of Higher Education is not
abundant. Factors such as the current rapid social and political transformation in
South Africa, as well as the emphasis on efficiency, downsizing, and short-term
contracts in the workplace, all contribute to feelings of insecurity and stress in the
academic context. The interesting relation between cognitive intelligence (including
rationality) and emotional intelligence, becomes the thrust of this article, with
specific reference to the role of job-related emotions. The purpose of the
quantitative research that serves as the empirical basis for this article was an
explorative investigation into aspects of stress among academics in the Nelson
Mandela Metropole and its impact on their functioning.

South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 19 (2) 2006: pp.345-358