Thaindian News

London, May 3 (IANS) Conscientious academics are the most likely to suffer from work-related burnout, researchers say.

Positive traits that can make lecturers more appealing teachers, such as openness, also make them more susceptible to feelings of weariness and emotional exhaustion.

Teachers of post-graduate students showed more emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation than those teaching undergraduates, while younger staff appeared most vulnerable, showing significantly greater emotional exhaustion than their older colleagues.

The problem could be getting worse as more students join part-time, distance and online learning programmes and other flexible study options that increase their need for learning support.

In the first systematic review of burnout among full-time non-medical teaching staff, University of Leicester researchers found that burnout was partly linked to exposure to large numbers of students, especially post-graduates.

Most of the studies reviewed found differences in the way men and women experienced burnout, with women reporting more emotional exhaustion and men more depersonalisation, according to a Leicester statement.

Noelle Robertson, senior lecturer in clinical psychology at Leicester and doctoral student Jenny Watts, reviewed 12 studies of academic burnout in seven countries.

They found high student numbers were related to increased evidence of these characteristics among academic staff.

“We found that burnout levels generally suggest that university academics are just as susceptible to burnout as school teachers and other public and human service providers,” Robertson said.