Burnout syndrome: a study among lecturers

Tatіana Kovalkova, Tatіana Malkova, “KROK” University, Kyiv, Ukraine

Burnout syndrome has been described as a lack of ability to cope with emotional stress at work and as a psychological syndrome. We investigated whether the lecturers experience burnout. The relationship between gender and the syndrome of emotional burnout was also explored. Method: Burnout was measured with an 84-item questionnaire developed by V. Boyko. An interpretation of the results of the experiment was presented using mathematical statistics. Findings: The results suggested that the second stage of burnout (resistance) was significantly higher than others – 38,51 %; tension had 29,85 % of the participants and exhaustion – 31,51 %. Of the participants, 10,16 % experienced psycho-traumatic events; 7,25 % had dissatisfaction with themselves; 4,53 % had the feeling of being caged; 7,94 % felt anxiety and depression; 8,59 % experienced inadequate emotional response; 7,69 % had emotional-ethical disorientation; 12,73 % experienced economy of emotions; 9,5 % felt reduction of professional responsibilities; 5,19 % had emotional deficit; 6,43 % experienced emotional detachment; 6,15 % felt depersonalization; 13,74 % had psychosomatic and psycho-vegetative disorders. The most developed stage of emotional burnout syndrome of men was tension (47,45 % of the participants). Women are more likely to respond by the second stage of the syndrome – ‘resistance’ (42,73 %). Implications for research and practice: Analysis of revealed phases and symptoms of burnout syndrome (psychosomatic and psycho-vegetative disorders, economy of emotions, experiencing psycho-traumatic events), and psycho-physiological features of professional work of lecturers (workload, sleep deprivation, work in stressful conditions) allowed us to determine psychological strategies to decrease the risk of development of lecturers’ burnout syndrome.

Keywords: Burnout, Higher education, Lecturer, Students, Teaching, Workload.