“Just smile and wave”: Workplace requirements and emotional labour of academic staff at a South African university

Abstract

Emotional labour is a part of all work situations, and how people manage it influences their quality of work-life. We aimed to study lived emotional labour and sustainable work participation of a sample of 15 South African university lecturers (females= 73%; white = 73%, black = 13%, Indian = 13%; lecturers = 47%, senior lecturers = 20%, associate professors = 13%, full professors = 20%, mean years of work experience = 18 years, SD = 12 years). The lecturers completed a semi-structured interview on their lived workplace emotional labour and their emotional regulation strategies. Thematic analysis of the data indicated the lecturers utilised implicit emotional display rules focussed on professionalism, situational cultural norms, as well as the culture of the larger society and the interfacing of institutional, situational, and individual factors. Awareness of the emotional labour requirements related to lecturing and training interventions for the effective use of emotional regulation in the workplace will support lecturers in dealing with workplace relationships. Higher education administrative support, clear work role expectations, and lower work demands, and creating a psychologically safe work environment would reduce academic staff emotional labour.