What is burnout? Staff in pastoral occupations can feel weary, frustrated and numb after dealing with other’s concerns.

1. Work & Wellbeing: Burnout in Academic Staff Jenny Watts (jw232@le.ac.uk) & Noelle Robertson School of Psychology • What is burnout? • Staff in pastoral occupations can feel weary, frustrated and numb after dealing with other’s concerns. This reaction is termed burnout. • There are 3 components: • Emotional exhaustion = the depletion of emotional reserves • Depersonalisation = an increasingly cynical and negative approach towards others • Reduced personal accomplishment = a growing feeling of work-related dissatisfaction • Why study burnout? • Burnout is a common consequence of providing care and assistance within the workplace. • University teaching staff give support and advice to many students and therefore this interaction can make them vulnerable to burnout. • Consequences of burnout • Staff turnover, reduced productivity, and increased absenteeism. • Results continued…. • Explaining depersonalisation • 1 significant predictor variable: • Lower perceived social support • Total variance explained 6.2% • (R²=0.062) • Explaining reduced personal accomplishment • 1 significant predictor variable: • Greater time spent supervising postgraduate students • Total variance explained14.1% (R²=0.141). Data Analysis The mean burnout scores were compared with normative values from other teaching samples. Multiple regression analysis established predictive relationships between the components of burnout and work related variables • Conclusions • It appears that perceptions of the workplace are critical: • Teaching staff who sense a greater level of peer support are less likely to feel psychologically distanced from their students. • Spending more time supervising postgraduates negatively predicted personal accomplishment scores. • Staff who felt lower agreement with the goals of the institution, lower perceived social support and spent more time completing administration tasks felt more emotionally exhausted. • Mean burnout scores did not differ greatly from normative values for other education professionals • Implications • It is important that occupational policy promotes a more socially supportive working environment to reduce burnout. • Results • The mean and standard deviation scores from the University teaching staff were not dissimilar to data from secondary school and sixth form teachers • Explaining emotional exhaustion • 3 significant predictor variables: • L lower person-organisation congruence • Higher admin workload • Lower perceived social support • Total variance explained 23.9% (R²=0.239) Study aims Factors were sought which predict the experience of burnout within academic teaching staff. Burnout is thought to impact negatively upon teaching and research quality, therefore this information could be used to guide prevention strategies. Method A survey applicable to 328 full-time, non-clinical teaching staff was advertised and accessible via the University’s electronic newsletter. 48 questions determined basic demographic details, weekly tasks, student contact hours, perceptions of the workplace, and scores from the Maslach Burnout Inventory. 84 full-time non-clinical teachers participated (response rate =25%). References Bilge, F., (2006). Examining the burnout of academics in relation to job satisfaction and other factors, Social Behavior and Personality, 34, (9), 1151-1160. Maslach, C., and Jackson, S.E., (1996). Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual, Third Edition, Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.