Working Paper No. 1
The Academic Workplace:
Perception vs. Reality

Sandra Elman

Abstract

 Why  are faculty becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of the academic workplace? What accounts for burnout and low morale among so many college and university faculty? Is work life for professionals any  more satisfying in the business world? What can academic leaders learn from business executives who work vigorously to reenergize their enterprises? Are corporate strategies aimed at enhancing the quality of work  life applicable to improving satisfaction and productivity in our colleges and universities?

These concerns were addressed by a number of education leaders at a conference on faculty work life jointly sponsored by  the New England Resource Center for Higher Education and the New England Board of Higher Education in December 1988. This article setsforth contrasting viewpoints on a range of critical variables that affect the  nature of the academic workplace and have a direct impact on the quality of faculty life. In an era of increasingly scarce resources and organizational uncertainty, it is anticipated that the crisis of faculty  vitality will intensify. Strategies and options for enhancing the condition of faculty at this critical juncture in academe's history warrant serious attention as higher education in New England charts its future  development.

Fall 1989

 

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