Mental Health in Higher Education: A Comparative Stress Risk Assessment at an Open Distance Learning University in South Africa

Universities depend on committed efforts of all staff members to function effectively. However, where occupational demands outweigh occupational resources, challenging work becomes stressful, followed by an exhausted, disengaged workforce. It is unlikely that disengaged university staff will provide...

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Autores principales:	Jacolize Poalses, Adéle Bezuidenhout
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Athabasca University Press 2018
Materias:	academics administrative staff distance learning university job demands-resources (JDR) model occupational stress Special aspects of education LC8-6691
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a4bf6824ae284cba98365dcc5b040144
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:a4bf6824ae284cba98365dcc5b040144
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a4bf6824ae284cba98365dcc5b0401442021-12-02T19:25:20ZMental Health in Higher Education: A Comparative Stress Risk Assessment at an Open Distance Learning University in South Africa10.19173/irrodl.v19i2.33911492-3831https://doaj.org/article/a4bf6824ae284cba98365dcc5b0401442018-05-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3391https://doaj.org/toc/1492-3831Universities depend on committed efforts of all staff members to function effectively. However, where occupational demands outweigh occupational resources, challenging work becomes stressful, followed by an exhausted, disengaged workforce. It is unlikely that disengaged university staff will provide adequate care and service to geographically distant and psychologically isolated learners. As students rely heavily on the support of both administrative staff, as well as academic staff, to manage their learning experience, the work stress experienced by both groups deserves research attention. This study employed a comparative mixed method design, including administrative and academic staff from an Open Distance Learning university in South Africa using the Job Demands-Resources measurement instrument. Findings established from 294 university staff members elucidated staff members’ experience of work stress within a mega-distance learning university in the developing world. Mindfulness about the stressors that influence university personnel can inform strategic interventions required to alleviate distress for each employment category. Jacolize PoalsesAdéle BezuidenhoutAthabasca University Pressarticleacademicsadministrative staffdistance learning universityjob demands-resources (JDR) modeloccupational stressSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691ENInternational Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, Vol 19, Iss 2 (2018)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	academics administrative staff distance learning university job demands-resources (JDR) model occupational stress Special aspects of education LC8-6691
spellingShingle	academics administrative staff distance learning university job demands-resources (JDR) model occupational stress Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Jacolize Poalses Adéle Bezuidenhout Mental Health in Higher Education: A Comparative Stress Risk Assessment at an Open Distance Learning University in South Africa
description	Universities depend on committed efforts of all staff members to function effectively. However, where occupational demands outweigh occupational resources, challenging work becomes stressful, followed by an exhausted, disengaged workforce. It is unlikely that disengaged university staff will provide adequate care and service to geographically distant and psychologically isolated learners. As students rely heavily on the support of both administrative staff, as well as academic staff, to manage their learning experience, the work stress experienced by both groups deserves research attention. This study employed a comparative mixed method design, including administrative and academic staff from an Open Distance Learning university in South Africa using the Job Demands-Resources measurement instrument. Findings established from 294 university staff members elucidated staff members’ experience of work stress within a mega-distance learning university in the developing world. Mindfulness about the stressors that influence university personnel can inform strategic interventions required to alleviate distress for each employment category.
format	article
author	Jacolize Poalses Adéle Bezuidenhout
author_facet	Jacolize Poalses Adéle Bezuidenhout
author_sort	Jacolize Poalses
title	Mental Health in Higher Education: A Comparative Stress Risk Assessment at an Open Distance Learning University in South Africa
title_short	Mental Health in Higher Education: A Comparative Stress Risk Assessment at an Open Distance Learning University in South Africa
title_full	Mental Health in Higher Education: A Comparative Stress Risk Assessment at an Open Distance Learning University in South Africa
title_fullStr	Mental Health in Higher Education: A Comparative Stress Risk Assessment at an Open Distance Learning University in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed	Mental Health in Higher Education: A Comparative Stress Risk Assessment at an Open Distance Learning University in South Africa
title_sort	mental health in higher education: a comparative stress risk assessment at an open distance learning university in south africa
publisher	Athabasca University Press
publishDate	2018
url	https://doaj.org/article/a4bf6824ae284cba98365dcc5b040144
work_keys_str_mv	AT jacolizepoalses mentalhealthinhighereducationacomparativestressriskassessmentatanopendistancelearninguniversityinsouthafrica AT adelebezuidenhout mentalhealthinhighereducationacomparativestressriskassessmentatanopendistancelearninguniversityinsouthafrica
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Mental Health in Higher Education: A Comparative Stress Risk Assessment at an Open Distance Learning University in South Africa

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