Temporal Dynamics Between Faculty Goals, Burnout/Engagement, and Performance in Teaching and Research: A Latent Change Score Approach

Abstract

Motivation is posited to be central for faculty members’ professional experiences and performance. To this end, achievement goals have been associated with burnout/engagement and performance at work. However, the few studies that have examined this topic were cross-sectional and only considered one of the two equally important work domains of faculty members. In the present research, we analyze the temporal relationships between achievement goals and burnout/engagement as well as performance and investigate the domain specificity of goal pursuit by considering goals for teaching and goals for research. To this end, we conducted a longitudinal study including 681 German faculty members that were surveyed four times over a total of two years. Multivariate Latent Change Score modeling attested that in both domains, mastery-approach goals were positively related to subsequent development of performance, while performance was also positively related to subsequent development of mastery goals, creating a double positive loop. Performance goals and work-avoidance goals were differentially associated with performance in both domains, indicating that the effects of goals can be bound to different contextual features. For overall burnout/engagement, our results implied that for its development, primarily research goals mattered (with performance-avoidance and work-avoidance goals being risk factors), while high burnout levels were associated with subsequent reduction of adaptive mastery-approach goals in both domains. This highlights the relevance of achievement goals for burnout/engagement and performance of faculty and employees in general, and sheds light on their complex temporal dynamics that can also meaningfully inform achievement goal research in other contexts.

Mixed-Method Analysis of Predisposing Factors Associated With Thesis-Writing Burnout Amongst Chinese Postgraduates

“…In summation, the literature substantiates the necessity of addressing academic burnout through a multifaceted lens, encompassing individual, institutional, and sociocultural dimensions, and devising efficacious interventions tailored to the unique needs of Asian students. In particular, the role of high-stakes academic environments, coupled with cultural expectations for academic excellence, and pervasive pressure to publish, has been implicated in the exacerbation of burnout (Chamandy & Gaudreau, 2022;Daumiller & Dresel, 2021). Nevertheless, a conspicuous lacuna persists with respect to the dissection of academic burnout experienced by Chinese postgraduates amidst the thesis-writing process, including Thesis-Writing Proposal (TTP), Thesis-Writing 3-Chapter (TW3C) and Thesis-Writing 5-Chapter (TW5C) phases (Worrall, 2022;Samuels, 2022;Paltridge & Starfield, 2019;Joyner et al, 2018;Flames et al, 2017).…”