Gender differences in the experience of work burnout among university staff

Abstract

This study examined gender differences as a factor in the experience of work-burnout among University Staff. It made use of 1040 respondents (549 male and 491 female). Maslach Burnout Inventory was used as an instrument to assess the level of differences in the emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment of staff of both sexes. Three hypotheses were posited and were tested using t-test statistics. Results indicated that there is no difference in the levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation of both male and female staff. However, the mean of the scores on the reduced personal accomplishment of both sexes shows a significant difference. It was confirmed also that female staff experienced higher level of reduced personal accomplishment than their male counterparts. Implications of these results were given while recommendations were made on how best to tackle the growing phenomenon of burnout among both sexes. Key words: Work-burnout, de-personalisation, emotional exhaustion, re