Analysing stress in faculty life at
one of the nation’s premier institutions.
Sai Akhil Reddy K, Srinath S, Rajasekhar
P, Sri Harsha A.
A University is not a physical thing, just made of
buildings; lecture theatres, seminar rooms, laboratories and libraries. A
university is made of people – students and teachers, living and working
together better to understand and to learn about the world we live in. In a research
institution like an IIT, the role of a professor is not only to teach academic
courses to the students, but also indulge in other integral activities like
research and also administration. So we decided to study into faculty’s life at
an IIT and how stressed they are with their multitasking job.
Relevant Studies:
A
study by CareerCast (a job portal site) and a resulting article in Forbes -- both asserting that college
professor is the least stressful job in America has raised many eyebrows in the states. On a
contrary, recent surveys of faculty members have found that they report considerable
stress. A national survey of
four-year college and university faculty members, released in October by the Higher Education Research
Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, found that more than
80 percent of faculty members -- at public and private institutions alike --
feel stress over "self-imposed high expectations" and "lack of
personal time." At public institutions, more than 80 percent of faculty
members also reported stress over budget cuts.
Survey Results:
To relate
these surveys to our country, we decided to conduct a questionnaire survey for
the faculty of IIT Patna and compare the studies drawn in the US to that in
India.
The study was
conducted with the help of online questionnaire. Each faculty member were given
questions asking about a) how frequently they get stressed, b) their opinion on
causes of stress, c) how they overcome stress, d) how they react to few
instances when they are in stress and e) how satisfied they are with their
profession. Based on the data collected (33 responses), these are the trends:
- Of the total responses, 65% belonged to the Engineering department, 25% belonged to Basic Sciences and 10% belonged to Humanities Sciences.
- 60% of the surveyed faculty members belong to the age group of 36-45 and the rest belong to the age group of 26-35.
- When asked about how frequently they get stressed with their profession, 10% said every day, 25% said more than twice a week, 25% said they do have stressful days at work but the frequency depends on the time of the semester and the rest said they hardly get stressed at all.
- When asked about which part of the profession stresses them the most, 35% said Administration, 25% said teaching, 5% said research, and the rest claimed they were not stressed by any of these.
- Only 20% said they would continue with their work despite feeling stressful at the middle of the day but the rest of them said they would need a break to ease of the stress.
- Apparently 70% of them are never stressed by discussing subject/project topics even if it is during the late hours of the day.
- 50% of the surveyed faculty members do not prefer to discuss about with their colleagues after working hours. 25% of them said they would like it only occasionally.
- Given a chance, 50% of the surveyed faculty would take up full time research but 40% would continue as it is. Only a small percentage seems to be interested in full time teaching or full time administration.
- Interestingly only 50% of the surveyed faculty members would like their children to become professors in future.
Conclusion:
- Majority of the faculty members do feel the stress on a regular basis irrespective of their age.
- Majority of them seem to be stressed by administration responsibilities and would like to forego them if given a chance.
- It can be a good option to ask the faculty members if they are really interested in administrative activities. Also, there can be few vacancies for full time researchers for those who are not interested in teaching. This way both the faculty and the students are benefited.
Limitations:
- Very few faculty members as compared to a large institute, so the sample data may not be very large to come to a strong conclusion.
- Prejudice: The answers may not reflect directly their thoughts because they may tick choices what they would like to be instead of what they are. For example few profs may feel stressed due to research but they feel that they shouldn’t be as it is their important job. So they may end up choosing administration or none as the option which stresses them.
- Not everyone are frank in their answers (since they are anonymous).
- They may fill answers in a hurry so they may not be completely true.
References:
- http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2013/01/05/top-10-reasons-being-a-university-professor-is-a-stressful-job/
- http://www.jstor.org/stable/40249663
- https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/07/claim-college-professor-least-stressful-job-infuriates-faculty
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