Department of Industrial Psychology

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Browsing by Subject "Academics"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Academics in lockdown: A gendered perspective on self-esteem in academia during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown
    (MDPI, 2023) Walters, Cyrill; Ronnie, Linda; du Plessis, Marieta
    This qualitative research explores the experiences and sense-making of self-worth of 1857 South African women academics during the enforced pandemic lockdown between March and September 2020; the study was conducted through an inductive, content analysis process. Since worldwide lockdowns were imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, women academics, in particular, have reported a unique set of challenges from working from home. Gender inequality within the scientific enterprise has been well documented; however, the cost to female academics’ selfesteem, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic, has yet to be fully realized. The findings of the study include negative emotional experiences related to self-worth, engagement in social comparisons, and the fear of judgement by colleagues, which were exacerbated by peer pressure.
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    Job demands and job resources of academics in higher education
    (Frontiers Media, 2021) Naidoo-Chetty, Mineshree; du Plessis, Marieta
    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.
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    Systematic review of the job demands and resources of academic staff within higher education institutions
    (Sciedu Press, 2021) Naidoo-Chetty, Mineshree; du Plessis, Marieta
    The Higher Education sector has been through an array of changes, such as globalisation, massification, lack of job security, decolonisation and a number of technological advancements. These changes have impacted academic workload and have increased work pressure with resultant effects on family and work life balance. A review of the existing literature indicates a lack of clarity when it comes to the job demands and job resources inherent to the academic occupation. In order to determine the job demands and job resources of academics, a systematic review of empirical literature is warranted. This paper systematically reviewed empirical research published from 2014 to 2019 investigating job demands and resources based on the job demands-resources model in the higher education environment. Six articles were identified that met the criteria for inclusion. Thus, a list of quantitative, qualitative and organisational job demands as well as organisational and personal resources specific to the academic environment were identified. This will allow Higher Education Institutions to provide targeted development of job resources and mitigation of job demands for their academic employees and enable the development of specific interventions.
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    The influence of electronic leadership on work engagement, trust and intention to quit of university employees in South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2024) Malagas, Tayla
    The global pandemic has been a catalyst for many revolutionary changes in the world, including remote work. Today, many organisations experience the benefits and reality of remote working, i.e., employees working in a location outside of the organisation. The new era of diverse working environments has had both an exponential and incremental impact on all industries, including the higher education industry. Most importantly, due to the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic; academics employed at higher education institutions (HEIs) were expected to adapt to these remote work-related changes at a rapid pace. This situation left many academics confused and unsure about how a remote work setting would affect their way of communicating, fulfilling their responsibilities, completing their tasks and working together with management, staff and students. It is not clear whether employees at HEIs perceive leaders, who practice a traditional leadership style, as sufficiently confident and appropriately equipped to manage staff virtually. The influence of e-leadership on South African HEIs employees’ work engagement, trust in leadership and intention to quit was explored to determine the relationships between the variables. Specifically, the impact of e-leadership on these employee outcomes was explored through a quantitative research design approach. Survey methodology was utilised to gather data from academic employees in South African HEIs.