Tomorrow's Professor Msg. #186 NEW FACULTY TALK ABOUT STRESS
Folks:
The excerpt below is from an excellent new book, FACULTY IN NEW JOBS:
A
GUIDE TO SETTLING IN, BECOMING ESTABLISHED, AND BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL
SUPPORT, by Robert J. Menges and Associates, copyright © 1999 Jossey-Bass
Inc., Publishers, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94104. Reprinted
with permission.
The excerpt concerns faculty stress in the first year and is from Chapter
Three, New Faculty Talk About Stress, by Sarah M. Dinham.
The reproduced section is longer than most postings, however, it is in
an easy
to read format consisting mainly of e-mail exchanges among beginning
faculty.
Regards,
Rick Reis
Reis@stanford.edu
UP NEXT: Search Committees: The Long and Winding Road of Academic Hiring
Tomorrow's Academic Careers
-------- 2,334 words ------
NEW FACULTY TALK ABOUT STRESS
>From Chapter Three
New Faculty Talk About Stress
pp. 39-47
When new faculty experience stress, they often discuss it with one another
and with their senior colleagues. This chapter presents such a discussion
as
it might occur on an electronic listserv. One person from each of the
five
institutions in the New Faculty Project participates in the discussion.
The
convener is a senior colleague at another university.
These messages recount experiences typically reported in New Faculty
Project
interviews and surveys; in fact, they represent the most frequently
occurring survey and interview responses from participants in the project.
The e-mail messages also refer to colleagues whose experiences illustrate
the range of variability in the project data (approximately two standard
errors). Reported "differences" are significant at p <.05.
You are invited to "listen" as new faculty talk about stress.
STRESS IN YEAR ONE
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TO: all@listservedu
Chris@comprehensive.univ.edu, Lee@urblibarts.edu,
Marty@rurlibarts.edu, Pat@researchunivedu,
Terr-y@communitycoll.edu
FROM: sdinham@uarizona.edu
RE: Talking about stress
40 FAcuLTY IN NEWJOBS
This fall, you've each written to me about the stress you're under as
newly
hired tenure-track faculty. How about talking with one another about this?
I'll enter the discussion now and then as well. Why don't you also see
what
other newcomers on your campus have to say? To begin, on a scale from
I to
10 (where 10 is the most stressed you've ever been), what would you say
is
your stress level right now?
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TO: all
FROM: Lee@urblibarts.edu
RE: Talking about stress
It was great to hear from you and to realize that others are in the same
boat I'm in. One of my problems is that I don't (yet) have anyone here
on
campus to talk with about things like stress, which I would rate at about
6.
Overall I can say that this fall with three classes the workload is
staggering. And this particular liberal arts college calls itself "research
oriented," which means that I feel heavy pressures in that direction.
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TO: all
FROM: Pat@researchunivedu
RE: Talking about stress
Lee, you were talking for me, too, when you described the workload as
"staggering." I have one fewer class than you, but significant
research
expectations; I felt from the start the need to hit the ground running.
Gotta rush. Oh, I'm at 6, too.
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TO: all
FROM: Chris@comprehensiveunivedu
RE: Talking about stress
NEW FAcuLTY TALK ABOUT STRm 41
Here at Comprehensive University we have a three-course teaching load
and
are expected from the start to demonstrate what they call "evidence
of
scholarly pursuits," so merely doing my teaching well isn't enough,
despite
the stereotype often held of state universities like ours. I'm at about
6 as
well. How do I balance all this?
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TO: all FROM: Marty@rurlibarts.edu RE: Talking about stress
The similarities among us are remarkable, considering that we are at
different types of institutions. Sounds like more similarity than difference
so far, right?
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TO: all
FROM: TerrY@cOmmunitycoll.edu
RE: Talking about stress
You four have described a significantly more stressful f te tha
-like most facI have here at Community College.'Even though I all rm
n ulty
here-have a four-course teaching load, I would say that my stress level
on a
10-point scale is more like 4 or 5. Things are certainly busy here, and
I'm
whirling from one class to the next and doing a lot of talking with students
in my office. Hope you all are hanging in there.
RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES ON STRESS
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TO: all
FROM: sdinham@uarizona.edu
RE: Stress literature
As the originator of this conversation, I want to share some things we
know
about stress in college faculty. It may be reassuring to know
42 FAcuLTY iN NEwJoBs
that your comments about your own situations echo the research literature
on
stress. Some models of occupational stress suggest interesting insights
for
your situation. For example, Karasek and Theorell (1990) classify
occupations as involving high versus low psychological demands, and also
high versus low control; being ajunior faculty member may be stressful
because it entails high psychological demand but low control. Pearlin,
Ueberman, Menaghan, and MulIan (198 1) point out that the two types of
stress--stress that arises as discrete events occur and stress due to
relatively continuous problems-become intertwined; it is sometimes difficult
to distinguish between discrete crises and continuous problems.
Do you wonder whether you'll soon be burning out? Pines and Aronson (1988)
said something you might take to heart: "We discovered that the use
of the
term, in and of itself, had a healing effect: people who ... felt that
there
was something uniquely wrong with them realized for the first time that
what
they were experiencing had a name! ... This insight gave these individuals
the hope that something could be done. . ." (pp. ix-x). This reminded
me of
Friedan's discussion in The Feminine Mystique (1963) of "the problem
that
has no name.'
Small consolation, maybe, but you of course aren't the only junior faculty
to be stressed. Whitt's (1991) phrase "hit the ground running"
refers to
five recurring themes in new faculty members' experiences: less than
satisfactory collegiality-, administrators' high expectations; variable
department chair support; workloads heavy, as expected, but nonetheless
burdensome; and deeply held, conflicting feelings. Overall Whitt found
that
new faculty were "concerned about how little assistance they were
given in
adjusting," that they were confronted with "an unexpected and
bewildering
number of obstacles," and that they often held views different from
their
department chairs' perspectives on their adjustment and work (pp. 101-102).
This means to me that youjunior faculty can have some serious communication
problems with the people and in the situations right around you.
How do you think your feelings about stress will change? In case we want
a
longer-range view, Sorcinelli (1988, 1992) followed one research university
group of new, junior faculty for five years and found that concern "about
lack of time and balance is the most consistent source of stress over
time"
(p. 28). She also mentioned new faculty members' unrealistic expectations
for themselves, the problem of inadequate feedback and recognition, and,
with Whitt, lack of collegiality-which some of you have mentioned.
Sorcinelli points also to the "spillover" of work stress into
nonwork lives,
together with the struggle to find a balance both among work demands and
between work and nonwork domains.
Faculty life is complex, and it's easy to become overextended. Hampel
(1995)
quotes Kitty Carlisle Hart's biographer, who depicts the celebrity crying,
"My dear, it's madness, isn't it? I never say no to anything! It
has made
such a good life for me." Hampel goes on, though, to criticize more
soberly
the expectation that in academe we cannot, or will not, say no.
National studies have also found that stress permeates faculty lives.
Periodic Higher Education Research Institute surveys of U.S. faculty found
34 percent of faculty reporting "extreme" stress "in the
past two years,"
with women more likely to report extreme stress than men (Dey, Ramirez,
Kom,
and Astin, 1993). Above all else, they found higher stress levels for
the
same things you've been describing: time pressures at work and lack of
personal time, which they described as "high levels of conflict between
personal, home, and professional duties" (p. 17).
What's comforting-or troublesome-is that their survey represents all
faculty, notjust newly hired faculty. Perhaps we aren't just discussing
the
life of a newly hired faculty member; we're seeing what faculty life is
like, period!
Now, tell me more about this first year .2
MORE ABOUT STRESS IN THE FIRST YEAR
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TO: all
FROM: Marty@rurlibarts.edu
RE: Life here
Here at Rural Liberal Arts College our focus in the first year is on
teaching. Most importantly this means extraordinary class preparation.
These
students were the cream of their high school classes and here, as college
students, they have had small, challenging, personalized classes, so (I
am
told) they will not stand for lengthy lectures or any hint of insufficient
class preparation.
"Teaching" means many other things, too. We seem to be expected
to be on
campus with our doors open to students all day every day. My friend who
teaches German also attends the German table at lunch, and my friends
who
teach laboratory courses commute between the lab and their office all
day.
We do a lot of advising, for example, with students who might want to
major
or minor in our department or who are interested in graduate school-in
addition to our availability to students in our current courses.
There are special efforts here to help new faculty join the larger academic
community (in comparison with what I hear from you at other campuses),
but
in the end my own life is solitary, like yours. This comes mostly from
the
press of time devoted to students and teaching. The mentoring program
here
is beneficial to some new faculty but not to others, who for some reason
have found their own mentor figures or who may not click with their assigned
person.
So far what I've heard from all of you is that the work is the source
of
your stress, right? And the bottom line seems to be time. What I've seen
in
your messages is that our teaching coupled with expectations for research
productivity (although research expectations vary among us) leaves us
with
precious little time for a personal life.
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TO: all
FROM: Terry@communitycoll.edu
RE: What it's like here
Time really is a problem for me, too. I'm really busy, like you all.
I have
several new course preparations, and in addition my students are more
varied
(ethnicity, academic preparation, learning disabilities, and so on) than
I
expected. We have a lot of curriculum committee work here, but because
I'm
new I haven't been drawn into that yet. I miss some of the things that
you
describe as stressful-most importantly, the research I have wanted to
continue but cannot. I wanted to get a couple of articles out this year
but
am not now very hopeful.
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TO: all
FROM: Chris@comprehensiveunivedu
RE: Another look at stress
We've only described things at work, but my "other" life is
complicated,
too. At first Dale couldn't be here because it wasn't possible just to
walk
away from the job back there, but now we're together here with the kids,
and
Dale is with a really good firm in townwe're both relieved about that.
Isn't
this what Crosby (1984) meant about home fife being a psychological shock
absorber for stresses at work? The problem is that not enough time to
get my
work done means not enough time at home either. If there are papers to
grade
and lectures to write, when do we go to a movie? When do I find the hardware
store or have neighbors over? Am I supposed to sacrifice my own life in
order to get everything done at work?
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TO: all
FROM: terry@communitycoll.edu
RE: Stressful environments
Yes, personal stress is creeping into each of your messages. But hey,
what
about stress reduction? How do you cope?
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TO: all
FROM: Pat@researchunivedu
RE: Coping with it all'
I do several things to get through my week. Planning is important. I
am able
to set aside two days each week for writing, although not on campus--too
many distractions. I really need to get out those two pieces from my
dissertation this semester.
But the rest of the time isjust chaotic. It's hard to deal with so many
demands, and to figure out how to decide on priorities, since they compete.
I feel isolated-at home I talk with Lou (who's helpful but probably pretty
sick of hearing about it) but we don't know many other people here. And
another thing-1 try not to be perfect. Anybody else have that problem?
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TO: all
FROM: Chris@comprehensiveunivedu
RE: Coping
The isolation Pat mentions is a real problem for me, especially because
I
commute and the neighborhood where Dale and I decided we want to live
is so
far from campus. I cope best byjust doing it-just going through the work
and
making sure it gets done. There's really nothing to be done about the
situation, so I work all the time. And as I said before, time working
is
time not spent on my personal life, so it's a double-edged sword. Bye-back
to work!
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TO: all
FROM: Marty@rurlibarts.edu
RE: Coping
The emphasis on teaching here is both a blessing and a burden. The burden
part comes with the many teaching~related expectations outside of class,
as
I told you. With perpetual office hours, when do I have time to think?
So I
have to plan carefully, and close the door to do the work I've planned.
I
remember somebody mentioned trying "not to be perfect" a while
ago; I am
struggling to remember that perfection is impossible, and to reassure
myself
that when I do my best, it will indeed probably be enough.
Another thing nobody's mentioned: exercise. I'm running again, working
up to
every day. The exercise not only helps me feel better but sometimes the
problem I'm working on is resolved on my way around the park.
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TO: all
FROM: Terr-y@communitycoll.edu
RE: Coping
I "just do it," too. There is a lot to do, and Ijust need to
work harder.
Making progress on my work feels good, helps me to relax. My friend down
the
hall (also new) said, "There are no especially bad days; all the
days are
sort of bad." I drink lots of coffee.
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TO: all
FROM: Lee@urblibarts.edu
RE: Coping
As I said, I have to meet both heavy teaching and heavy research expectations
even as a veryjunior faculty member. I see no way to get around these
expectations, so Ijust do it, too. We have set up a study at home (Sorry,
boys, you'll be sharing a bedroom) and because all my data are on disk
I can do the analyses with SPSS-PC and the writing right there. I canjustify
staying away from campus three mornings if I put in enough "face
time" during the rest of the week. I feel enormous pressure to use
time well.
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