Work-life balance and sources of stress for the academic staff in Russian research universities

Abstract

Based on the data of a survey and semi-structured interviews with the faculty members in one of the leading Russian research universities the article reveals key sources of work-related stress experienced by the Russian academic staff. Increasing requirements for academic performance, high administrative burden and disruption of work-life balance are among them. The authors argue that this is largely due to global trends driven by neo-managerial reforms in science and higher education, as well as the universities’ participation in the global ranking race. Certain characteristics of academic work, such as fuzzy boundaries between work and leisure, also make the academic profession more stressful. According to the study, the risk groups are young employees and those who are actively engaged in administrative work. To conclude, the authors discuss the concept of stress in the field of academic work and raise a question about the ratio between the positive effects of the adaptation to the new conditions and the risks of the negative impact of stress on Academia.