Lecturers’ Perceptions of Open-Plan Office in Tertiary Institutions

Abstract

This paper describes and assesses lecturers’ perceptions of open-plan office in selected tertiary institutions in Botswana. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 222 randomly selected lecturers who were occupants of open-plan office in three different private tertiary institutions in Botswana. The results showed that lecturers have a negative perception of open-plan office. Lecturers believed that open-plan office is not suitable for their research and academic work. The findings suggest that open-plan office affects lecturers’ dignity negatively. Among other things, it is recommended that management of the institutions covered by this study and other institutions with similar challenges in Africa should consider the provision of office design that is ideal for knowledge workers such as lecturers in higher institutions in order to improve their efficiency.