Exploring lecturers' emotional challenges on their work performance at a rural university in Eastern Cape Province

Abstract

Lecturers' well-being is essential for successful education at any university. The paper seeks to explore the untold stories of emotional challenges faced by some lecturers in a rural institution of higher learning in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Today's universities are faced with myriad challenges, among them is lecturers' well-being. Lecturers‘ anxiety is now rampant but not enough attention is given to it since people assume that academics can cope with life's stresses. Exploring the problem and consequences on lecturers' work will provide strategies that could be implemented by the university management. The existential anxiety theory, qualitative-case study design and a purposeful sampling technique were used for the study. Interviews were utilised to collect data. Data presentation and analysis were done using verbatim quotations. The study established that university lecturers were overwhelmed by challenges such as job uncertainty, pressure to engage in research, supervision, frequent student unrest, dwindling resources, pressure to integrate information communication and technology in teaching and learning, and so forth. The study concluded that lecturers were facing a myriad of challenges that had a negative impact on the execution of their duties. The paper recommends that the university management should develop a model to address the lecturers' identified challenges.