Burnout Among Academics: An Empirical Study on the Universities of Poland

Abstract

Professional burnout has been a growing problem not only for employees but also for their organizations, affecting the organizational costs as well as employee health and well-being. This chapter is based on the job demands-resources model of burnout which consists of two dimensions: exhaustion, i.e., general tiredness, bad mood, and fear in reaction to organizational stress, and disengagement, i.e., withdrawal from one’s work owing to the difficulty in meeting professional requirements. The purpose of the study was to examine the level of burnout among Polish academics. The sector of higher education in Poland is currently experiencing significant changes which leads to subsequent major transformations. This evokes the need to continuously adapt to external demands so as to meet the expectations of the academic supervisors as well as of numerous external stakeholders. Thus, the dynamic environment that requires constant adaptation creates demanding working conditions at universities. Data were collected from 199 female and 141 male respondents working as academic staff in private and state universities in Poland. To measure the level of occupational burnout, a Polish adaptation of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) was used. The analysis of the study resulted in the conclusion that the level of exhaustion is higher among the academics than the level of their disengagement. Sociodemographic characteristics and job characteristics served as differentiating variables.