STRESS IN ACADEMIC LIFE CL (The Society for Research into Higher Education)

Academic life is becoming increasingly stressful. Academics are suffering from increased government control and monitoring; from financial cuts and work overload; from the difficult balancing act between their teaching, research and administration roles. They experience the everyday stresses of doing a creative job within an increasingly uncreative environment; of both developing relationships with students and assessing their performance; of seeking promotion or settling for non-promotion as opportunities for advancement have become more limited; of maintaining self-esteem as their status in the community appears to decline. At the same time they are aware of the increasing stress suffered by their students: their fear of failure, financial pressures, homesickness, impending examinations, uncertain prospects, and their balancing of academic and social lives.
Shirley Fisher provides an overview of the effects of stress on performance, daily efficiency and health, and reports the results of research into stress in academic environments (for both staff and students). She explores the origins and nature of academic stress, personal vulnerabilities and coping mechanisms and proposes ways in which individuals can be helped, emphasizing how working conditions and practices must be changed in order to reduce stress in academic life.