Job Demands and Job Resources of Academics in Higher Education

Abstract

Too many job demands and not enough job resources can negatively influence the well-being of employees. Currently, limited information exists surrounding the job demands and resources as experienced by academic employees in the higher education sector. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the job demands and job resources experienced by academic employees using qualitative methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 academic employees, using an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach. Thematic analysis, specifically template analysis was used to categorize the themes. Job demands were divided into three categories: quantitative (publication pressure, overburdened with the load, and competing time demands), qualitative (work/home balance, complexity of student support, organizational politics, and lack of mental health support) and organizational demands (using technology-mediated learning and lack of structural resources). Job resources were organized into two categories: organizational (social support) and personal resources (autonomy, meaningful work, and personal support). Participant experiences are highlighted to provide a better understanding of the job demands and job resources encountered. The framework of job demands and job resources gleaned from the study could be used for further research to manage and monitor motivational processes for academic staff, and to reduce strain due to high job demands.

Job Demands, Resources, and Future Considerations: Academics' Experiences of Working From Home During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

“…Consistent with findings from previous studies, work–home interference was considered another job demand among academics (Esteves et al, 2020 ; Naidoo-Chetty and du Plessis, 2021a ). However, only a quarter of our participants perceived this job demand to negatively affect their occupational wellbeing.…”

“…Another frequently reported job demand was work overload because of the shift to online education. Recent studies have also reported that academics have experienced workload increase during the pandemic because of digitalization in higher education (Jackman et al, 2021 ; McGaughey et al, 2021 ; Watermeyer et al, 2021 ; Naidoo-Chetty and du Plessis, 2021a ). Some of our participants reported that this had negatively affected their occupational wellbeing, but that the resource of organizational support had helped them to cope with work overload and increase their wellbeing.…”

“…Additionally, it enables the researchers to apply both inductive and deductive approach for analyzing the research data (Vaismoradi et al, 2013 ). Therefore, in the present study, we generated an initial coding frame deductively based on previous studies that had used the JD-R model in the context of research on higher education institutions (Bakker et al, 2005 , 2010 ; Rothmann and Jordaan, 2006 ; Boyd et al, 2011 ; Barkhuizen et al, 2014 ; Naidoo-Chetty and du Plessis, 2021a , b ). Because little is known about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected academics' working experiences, the coding frame also remained open to any inductive codes.…”

“…Previous research in higher education has used the JD-R model to conceptualize the role of job demands and resources in academia (Bakker et al, 2005 , 2010 ; Rothmann and Jordaan, 2006 ; Boyd et al, 2011 ; Barkhuizen et al, 2014 ; Mudrak et al, 2018 ; Nurendra, 2018 ; Converso et al, 2019 ; Han et al, 2020 ; Naidoo-Chetty and du Plessis, 2021a ; Holliman et al, 2022 ). Some of the resources identified are organizational support, trust in the head of department/senior management, job security, social support, role clarity, meaningful work, reward, teacher efficacy, and workplace autonomy.…”

“…Several quantitative studies have provided valuable insights into academics' experiences of job demands and resources during the pandemic (Kulikowski et al, 2021 ; Mäkiniemi et al, 2021 ; Wood et al, 2021 ; Garraio et al, 2022 ; Ghislieri et al, 2022 ; Taylor and Frechette, 2022 ). However, to the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of qualitative studies in this area (Naidoo-Chetty and du Plessis, 2021a ). Thus, we aimed to contribute to this emerging field of research by conducting a descriptive qualitative study that explores academics' perceptions of job demands and resources related to changes in working conditions in academia during COVID-19, and examines their perceptions of how these changes have affected their occupational wellbeing.…”