A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
What challenges higher education teachers’ teaching-related wellbeing?
Authors: Virtanen, Viivi; Hailikari, Telle; Murtonen, Mari; Parpala, Anna; Postareff, Liisa
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Teacher Development
ISSN: 1366-4530
eISSN: 1747-5120
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2025.2537056
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: No Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13664530.2025.2537056
The demands of teaching have increased in higher education and resulted in a high incidence of academic staff burnout, making teachers’ wellbeing a critical concern. This study explored the challenges to university teachers’ psychological wellbeing using the job demands-–resources (JD-R) framework. The authors performed content analysis on the interviews of 32 academics and found that negative experiences affecting wellbeing reflected the three dimensions of burnout: inefficacy, exhaustion, and cynicism. Person-oriented analysis identified three profiles: 1) High, 2) Moderate, and 3) Low levels of teaching-related wellbeing. Low wellbeing was associated with an imbalance between job demands and resources. High workload and lack of social support were major job demands, while pedagogical competence, adequate social support, and personal resources, such as self-compassion, were key job resources positively influencing wellbeing. This study adds to the literature on academic wellbeing by identifying specific job demands and resources related to the wellbeing of university teachers.
Funding information in the publication:
This work was supported by the Opetus- ja Kulttuuriministeriö [199/523/2016].