University Stress Study: Low Job Satisfaction, High Stress Levels
30 March 2001
Preliminary data from a study of stress among Australian University staff will be released today. The study, funded by two ARC SPIRT grants and support from the NTEU as Industry Partner, is the most comprehensive study of its kind undertaken involving almost 9000 respondents in seventeen universities.
Click here to see preliminary data (pdf).
Professor Tony Winefield, one of the Chief Investigators, said that the survey results have serious implications for the mental health of Australian university staff.
“The survey data compares current levels of stress and job satisfaction to those documented by a pilot study at Adelaide University in 1994. The results indicate that job satisfaction is substantially lower and psychological stress higher than was documented by the 1994 study.”
“The overall levels of psychological distress were disturbingly high, with nearly half of the respondents being classified as possible “cases”, and nearly a third as possible “severe cases”, using the GHQ-12, a well known screening instrument. When compared to GHQ-12 results for a sample of the Australian population, the survey data reveals double the percentage of possible “cases” and triple the percentage of possible “severe cases” occurring within the general population. These results have serious implications for the mental health of Australian university staff.” Professor Winefield commented.
Dr Carolyn Allport, President of the National Tertiary Education Union, said that the initial results were a matter for serious concern.
“As the Industry Partner in this project, we consider that these results allude to serious problems within the higher education sector associated with commercialisation, reduced funding and a managerial culture of downsizing and restructuring. The data represents a challenge to government and university administrations to address systemic problems contributing to excessive workloads and work related stress.”
We eagerly await further analysis of the data from this study, which will provide the union as well as universities with a sound basis on which to develop proactive approaches to address workloads and stress.” Dr. Allport concluded.
The data will be released by Dr Tony Winefield at a conference of the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association, on Friday March 30 from 9.00 am.
AHEIA Conference Venue: Parkroyal Surfers Paradise, 2807 Gold Coast Hwy, Surfers Paradise