Leicester psychologists highlight risk of academic 'burnout'
The positive traits that can make lecturers more appealing teachers, such as openness, also make them more susceptible to suffering feelings of weariness and emotional exhaustion.
As well as feeling weary and exhausted, people experiencing burnout also suffer from disinterest and reduced performance, feelings of depersonalisation and a growing sense of work-related dissatisfaction.
The study was conducted by Noelle Robertson, a senior lecturer in our School of Psychology, and PhD student Jenny Watts. Twelve studies of academic burnout in seven different countries were reviewed and the researchers found high student numbers were related to increased evidence of these characteristics among academic staff.
They’ve recommended monitoring burnout and to help deal with it earlier – the University’s own Staff Counselling and Wellbeing service have a training programme to help identify and tackle it early.
