Abstract
The Higher Education sector has been through an array of changes, such as globalisation, massification, lack of job security, decolonisation and a number of technological advancements. These changes have impacted academic workload and have increased work pressure with resultant effects on family and work life balance. A review of the existing literature indicates a lack of clarity when it comes to the job demands and job resources inherent to the academic occupation. In order to determine the job demands and job resources of academics, a systematic review of empirical literature is warranted. This paper systematically reviewed empirical research published from 2014 to 2019 investigating job demands and resources based on the job demands-resources model in the higher education environment. Six articles were identified that met the criteria for inclusion. Thus, a list of quantitative, qualitative and organisational job demands as well as organisational and personal resources specific to the academic environment were identified. This will allow Higher Education Institutions to provide targeted development of job resources and mitigation of job demands for their academic employees and enable the development of specific interventions.
Highlights
Higher education institutions are facing major transformation challenges globally
Academic employees within higher education institutions are experiencing an overload of job demands, they have a shortage of response capabilities, especially when it comes to finances (Viljoen & Rothmann, 2002)
The participants consisted of academic staff that ranged from the level of Professors to junior lecturers
Summary
Higher education institutions are facing major transformation challenges globally. Student registrations have risen considerably over the past few years and it would appear that academics are expected to take on more administrative and management duties (CHE, 2010; Ntshoe & De Villiers, 2008). Current statistics reveal that the job demands of academics have escalated (due to the forces of internationalisation and open-learning technology, for example) whilst the levels of support and other resources have declined (Council of Higher Education, 2016; Barkhuizen, 2005). Academic employees within higher education institutions are experiencing an overload of job demands, they have a shortage of response capabilities, especially when it comes to finances (Viljoen & Rothmann, 2002). Further demands experienced comprise of hefty workloads, time and resource restrictions, extended working hours, poor pay, poor communication, role uncertainty, lack of acknowledgement, striving for publication, ensuring that support for students are provided and staying abreast of technological developments (Dhanpat, de Braine & Geldenhuys, 2019; Mushemeza, 2016; Ngoc, Hoang & Hung, 2020). Regardless of reporting high levels of stress and increased demands, there is some evidence that academics achieve a substantial amount of satisfaction from their work (Rothmann & Essenko, 2007)
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