Job Stress in University Staff: An Australian Research Study

Anthony H. Winefield, Carolyn Boyd, Judith L. Saebel, Silvia Pignata

University of South Australia



"This is one of the most thorough and comprehensive studies of workplace stress among university staff ever undertaken. The authors of this book have done a great service to higher education throughout the world by their systematic research and insights. On behalf of the academic community at large, I would like to thank the authors of this remarkable book." -- Cary L. Cooper, Ph.D., CBE Pro Vice Chancellor (External Relations) and Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University, England

A variety of changes to academic working conditions have resulted in an increase in occupational stress and a decrease in occupational wellbeing among university academics as well as nonacademic, or general, staff. This book releases for the first time the complete results of the Australian University Staff Stress (AUSS) Project, which examined over a number of years the level, extent, and antecedents of occupational stress experienced by staff, and the consequences on individuals and universities.

About the Author

Tony Winefield is Foundation Professor of Psychology at the University of South Australia. He completed his PhD at University College London before coming to Australia in 1962. Tony was the inaugural Director of the Centre for Applied Psychological Research (2003-2006), is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society, the academic member of the State Psychological Board and Chair of its Registration Committee. He is co-founder and Senior Commissioner of Australian Rules Volleyball, founder of the South Australian Masters' Soccer League and a life long supporter of the Arsenal Football Club. Carolyn Boyd is a research associate in the Centre for Applied Psychological Research at the University of South Australia. Since 2002 she has been involved with the Australian University Stress Study She obtained her PhD from Flinders University in 2007, with a thesis on generativity and psychological development in middle and older adulthood. Her current research interests include the nature and effects of work-home conflict, factors influencing psychological wellbeing in the transition from school to work, and age differences in attitudes to work. Judith Saebel is a PhD candidate in the School of Psychology at the University of South Australia. Her interests include structural equation modelling, statistics, parent-child relationships, and psychological effects of unemployment, underemployment, and work casualisation. Her recently submitted dissertation focused on modelling parent-child attachment/closeness in late adolescence and young adulthood. Silvia is a PhD candidate and Research Assistant in the Centre for Applied Psychological Research, School of Psychology, at the University of South Australia. In 2007, she was awarded a PhD scholarship from Bellberry Pty Ltd. Her research focus is on stress interventions in universities, with a specific interest in their effect on employee wellbeing, morale and work attitudes. A second major focus is an ethical focus on the predictors and consequences of employee perceptions of
procedural fairness.