Faculty Burnout in Relation to Work Environment and Humor as a Coping Strategy
by Halil Eksi
Songül TÜMKAYA
Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice
6 (3) • September 2006 • 911-92
This study investigated the relationship between university faculty’s gender, age, academic
position, and... more
This study investigated the relationship between university faculty’s gender, age, academic
position, and working environment with their burnout levels. In addition, the
relationship between the participants’ burnout levels and the use of humor as a coping
strategy was investigated. 283 full-time faculty 97 of whom were female and 186 were
male working at Çukurova University volunteered to participate in this study. The mean
age of the participants was 38.17 (SD=9.89). The Maslach Burnout Inventory
(MBI), the Coping Humor Scale (CHS) and a Socio-demographic Data and Working
Environment Evaluation Form were used to collect data in the study. Results show
that female faculty experience emotional exhaustion(EE) more in comparison to male
faculty (p<.0001). It was revealed that professors as a group feel emotional exhaustion
and personal failure the least (EE, : 14.14; PF, : 12.76 ) whereas research assistants
feel it the most (EE, : 19.34; PF, : 15.73). Faculty’s use of humor as a coping strategy
on their burnout levels didn’t show significant differences (p>.05). Besides, a significant
difference (p<.05) was found between subdimensions of burnout and several
evaluation ranks, including lecturers’ believes to be promoted, work guarantee, work
prestige, recommending job to someone else, and administrator and colleague support.
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Seen by:Intellectually gifted individuals' Career Choices and Work Satisfaction: A descriptive study
The submitted manuscript for the following published study:
Persson, R. S. (2009). Intellectually gifted individuals’ career choices and work satisfaction: a descriptive study. Gifted and Talented International, 24(1), 11-24,
This study set out to study which career path a group of intellectually gifted individuals chose, if any. How did they... more This study set out to study which career path a group of intellectually gifted individuals chose, if any. How did they actually like their work, and which were the reasons for satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their chosen career? In all, 287 Mensa members (216 men and 71 women) constituted the research group. Average age was 34.4 years (SD = 8.8). All had obtained IQ scores equal to or higher than the 98th percentile. The study was designed as a survey operationalized as an Internet-based questionnaire using the SPSS Dimensions software. A shortened version of the Work and Life Attitudes Survey (Warr, Cook & Wall, 1979) was included as part of the questionnaire. Quantitative data were analyzed as dispersions within the research group whereas qualitative data were content-analyzed using the so-called VSAIEEDC Model. Results show that participants tended to pursue careers mainly in Technology, Science and Social Work and to a lesser degree in Practical and Aestethic work. For all these fields work satisfaction was shown to be average. For individuals choosing to start their own company and/or who end up in leading managerial positions, however, satisfaction with work and career is very high. Possible reasons for these difference between subgroups in the sample are focused, and in conclusion a possible way forward to improve work satisfaction for intellectually gifted individuals at work, where needed, is discussed.
Toward a Political Economy of Labor in the Media Industries
by Sarah Baker
Co-authored with David Hesmondhalgh, published in eds J. Wasko, G. Murdock and H. Sousa (eds), The Handbook of Political Economy of Communications, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, pp. 381-400.
The editors write in their introduction to the collection: '...David Hesmondhalgh and Sarah Baker critique the... more The editors write in their introduction to the collection: '...David Hesmondhalgh and Sarah Baker critique the political economy approach as "largely marginal in major critical studies of the Internet and new media," pointing to the entrance of new theoretical competitors in the media sphere. They argue that "political economy ... has had very little to say about the rise of creative industries policies in many parts of the world ... or about the fundamental importance of copyright to media and cultural production and consumption." Echoing Mosco, they also find less attention has been given to issues relating to labor and media, and propose more research on "creative labor" through an analysis that combines understanding of power, institutions, and subjectivity.' (p. 7)
