1 Introduction

Teaching within the higher education sector is widely acknowledged as one of the most demanding professions, as evidenced by research conducted by Shen and Slater [1]. Their findings indicate that in the most recent academic year, over a third of academics worldwide reported experiencing significant levels of stress in their jobs. In South Africa, the current slowdown in economic growth has put a strain on both its fiscal capacity and the capability of educational institutions to fund crucial components of the support for academic staff training [2]. Moreover, a combination of factors has contributed to the increased workload and transformed the overall culture of universities. These factors include a surge in student enrollment, heightened scrutiny of teaching and research, greater pressure to secure research funding, an increased emphasis on commercial activities and research impact, as well as the need to achieve more with limited resources [3,4,5]. Furthermore, higher education institutions in South Africa are facing mounting pressure to enhance the quality of their graduates and contribute to scientific and technological advancements aligned with industry requirements [6, 7]. This puts a significant burden on faculty members [8] which can lead to a stressful and unpleasant work environment [9] compounded by personal issues [10]. This situation can lead to decreased faculty performance [11], which can negatively affect the academic atmosphere of the university environment.

University leaders must be responsive to human resource conditions to ensure the well-being and productivity of their academic staff [12]. Identifying work, personal, and family issues could affect academic staff performance. Workplace competition, pressure, stress, and personal greed can lead to a lack of motivation and job satisfaction. Additionally, factors such as task switching, changes in workplace positions, and economic strain can negatively impact academic staff’s psychological health, leading to issues such as substance abuse and discrimination [13]. Chuang [14] suggests that leaders should support and motivate their academic staff to develop a skilled and competitive workforce. One effective method is implementing Academic Staff Assistance Programs (EAPs) within the university environment [15]. Psychological problems, which leaders often ignore, have a more significant impact on academic staff than physical issues [16]. This includes problems such as burnout syndrome. According to Ulrichová [17], the symptoms of burnout syndrome include persistent overload and placing too many demands, which results in emotional tiredness, the materialization of relationships, and a lack of confidence.

Burnout syndrome significantly affects academic staff’s mental health and job performance [18]. Burnout is closely related to working conditions, such as excessive workload, monotonous and repetitive tasks, negative attitudes, and workplace ambiguity [18]. Poalses and Bezuidenhout [19] state that stress is almost always present at work and that it is neither possible nor desirable to eradicate stress completely. It is said that deconstructive or bad stress (distress), which could have demoralizing effects, differs from constructive or good stress (eustress), to which a person can easily adjust. However, it is believed that certain stress is healthy because it can be seen as motivating. Contrarily, stress only becomes an issue when the individual who is experiencing it learns to believe that the demands of the circumstance surpass their capacity to handle them. Distress is also a result of the perception that one lacks the resources (both personal and external) to meet the demands of the circumstance. In this article, the challenges facing South Africa's higher education system are discussed with an emphasis on the well-being of the academic staff. The main causes of these difficulties have been identified, along with suggestions on how to overcome them, through a review of the literature and analysis of the data that is currently accessible.

2 Background and theoritical framework

2.1 Conceptualizing academic staff burnout

Academic employees in South African colleges frequently experience burnout, which can result in emotional sleepiness, depersonalization, and impaired personal success. These burnout symptoms can have a significant negative impact on job satisfaction and productivity, so it's critical to take proactive steps to address them and promote health. The three elements of burnout—emotional sleepiness, depersonalization, and decreased personal accomplishment—must be understood by academics [20].

2.2 Theoretical viewpoints

For the purpose of analyzing burnout among academic staff in South Africa, the Model of Job Demands and Resources (JD-R) model is a theoretical framework to be adopted. Academic staff in South Africa require employment resources including social assistance and professional development to balance their workload demands. According to the Theorem of Conservation of Resources (COR), resource loss or depletion can have negative impacts, thus people attempt to obtain and maintain the resources they value. Academic staff effectiveness and well-being depend on resources including time, energy, social support, autonomy, and professional development. Academic staff burnout may be impacted by resource depletion, in which their resources are depleted by the demands of their roles. Additionally, inadequate resource replacement can exacerbate burnout, including a lack of social support, frank criticism, or possibilities for career growth [21].

2.3 Factors contributing to academic staff burnout in South Africa

Academic staff burnout is a problem at South African universities. It is brought on by a lack of institutional support, heavy administrative and research workloads, and excessive teaching loads [22, 23]. Additionally, it is impacted by academic standing and money, as well as sociocultural elements including racial dynamics and modifications to educational policies.

2.4 Proposed interventions and strategies

Considering the prevalence of burnout, it is advisable for higher education institutions to introduce measures to address the issue [24]. Universities in South Africa can lessen academic staff burnout by employing organizational, policy, and individual level interventions. Task redistribution, providing academic staff with career advancement opportunities, creating support networks, fostering an organizational culture that values collaboration, open communication, and accomplishment acknowledgment, encouraging work-life balance initiatives, encouraging diversity and inclusion initiatives, ensuring that everyone is paid fairly, and improving working conditions are some of these tactics. Institutions can also encourage self-care and self-awareness while promoting stress-reduction methods including mindfulness exercises, stress management classes, and access to counseling services.

3 Methods

Aim: This literature review aimed to assess the current status of academic staff well-being in university settings. An integrated analysis of the available data could potentially be used to develop occupational policies and staff training programs and guide future research initiatives. To achieve these objectives, the review aimed to answer the following questions:

  1. 1.

    What is known about the well-being of university teaching staff?

  2. 2.

    What programs do universities have to help staff cope with work challenges?

3.1 Research strategy

A narrative literature review method can be used to summarize the material already available and give a general overview of what is known at this time on a given subject. It can direct future research and policy development and is especially helpful when the study area is complicated, multifaceted, or new. An exhaustive overview of the literature on a particular study issue or topic is offered by a narrative literature review process, which enables researchers to draw conclusions and spot gaps in the body of knowledge. It allows for flexibility in study selection and synthesis, but it also necessitates careful assessment of the review's study quality.

3.2 Search terms

The terms "academic staff challenges," "academic staff burnout," "academic staff wellness program," and "academic staff well-being" were used to narrow the retrieved papers to studies of academic staff in universities. Only the phrase "academic staff wellbeing" was used to characterize distress in order to preserve the review's exclusive focus and prevent the retrieval of general studies of occupational stress.

3.3 Databases

A comprehensive search was conducted using academic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Medline, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar to identify relevant studies that investigated the utilization of academic staff wellness programs in South African universities using Academic staff challenges, Academic staff burnout, and Academic staff well-being. In recognition of the interdisciplinary nature of this topic, search engines that cover research in health, education, and social science were utilized. Table 1 details the scope of the searches and the coverage provided by each tool. Furthermore, a manual search was conducted, thoroughly examining the abstracts of relevant journals and the pursuit of articles referenced in papers retrieved by the electronic search.

Table 1 Shows the databases used in the literature search
Full size table

Table 1 represents different databases for searching for the information used in writing the articles. Five databases were used during the period of January 1999 to May 2023.

3.4 Inclusion/exclusion criteria

A peer-reviewed empirical study was required for inclusion to ensure verifiability and representativeness, while commentary, case studies, and anecdotes were excluded. Studies below the specified standards/criteria were excluded from the study, limiting the strength of conclusions, and resulting in misinterpretation of the phenomenon being examined. Studies that examined part-time staff were excluded, while studies examining full-time staff were included. Inclusion criteria required peer-reviewed empirical investigation to ensure that research in the field was verifiable and representative, and excluded commentary, case studies, and anecdotes. The inclusion of poor-quality studies was deemed to limit the strength of the conclusions and could lead to a misinterpretation of the phenomena under investigation. A total of 62 studies examined full-time academic staff, whereas studies examining part-time academic staff were excluded [25].

3.5 Data extraction tools

A comprehensive data extraction form was employed to analyze the literature to assess the frequency of burnout among academic staff. The primary objective of the literature review was to examine the existing knowledge regarding the well-being of academic staff. As a result, it was necessary to document and articulate the concept of well-being as reported in each research paper.

4 Results

The study combined the results of electronic searches to identify 1070 papers. After removing duplicates, non-academic staff, and non-English language articles, 317 papers were left, and their abstracts were evaluated based on strict inclusion criteria (refer to Fig. 1). Eventually, 60 relevant papers were selected for the review after excluding articles that focused on part-time staff, lacked sufficient methodological rigor, or were specific to elementary, secondary, or college teachers.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Article inclusion selection process

Full size image

4.1 Summer of articles reviewed

Table 2 represents the summary of articles on academic staff well-being. Workload, bullying, pressure to publish, and additional administrative duties were found to be some of the contributing factors to academic staff wellness challenges.

Table 2 Summary of the key findings from the literature
Full size table

5 Discussion

The workplace and work environment are critical factors that impact an academic staff's well-being and overall life [45]. A study by Warr [46] found that academic staff well-being is linked with job satisfaction. Better well-being is associated with improved job performance, reduced absenteeism, and increased social work behaviors toward co-workers and employers. De Jonge, Bosma [47] further highlight the risks of poor well-being, especially for overcommitted academic staff who suffer from high-cost, low-gain work conditions. Judge, Thoresen [48] suggest that investing in academic staff well-being is in the university’s best interests as it generates higher productivity. Coldwell, Papageorgiou [49] also note that academic staff with higher well-being tend to be more helpful to their co-workers, more punctual and time-efficient, and have longer employment tenures. In the following paragraphs certain factors that have an adverse effect on the well-being of academic staff will be discussed. These factors include excessive workloads, challenges with maintaining a healthy work-life balance, and the detrimental consequences of bullying, which can ultimately lead to burnout.

5.1 Work overload and work-life balance

Overload and work-life balance are two significant stressors that significantly negatively impact the health of academics Frantz, Simons [26]. Academics frequently experience emotions of overload as a result of the excessive demands placed on them, including heavy workloads, strict deadlines, and high expectations. Their emotional and physical health may suffer as a result of this ongoing pressure, which can result in burnout and other health problems. Academics also find it difficult to strike a healthy work-life balance since they frequently devote long hours to their professional tasks, leaving little time for socializing and other personal pursuits. Chronic stress, discontent, and further health deterioration can arise from failing to strike a balance between work and personal life. Academics may become exhausted and overworked due to excessive workload demands, which may ultimately affect how committed they are to their institutions. Another important aspect is job control, or the degree of independence academics have over their work [26]. People are more inclined to demonstrate higher levels of commitment when they feel empowered and included in the decision-making process. On the other hand, having little job control might cause resentment and lower loyalty. Academics are more likely to feel appreciated and devoted to their institutions when they can access the tools, resources, and support needed to perform their responsibilities effectively. A sense of community, trust, and collaboration are also fostered via open and transparent communication channels, which strengthen academics' commitment [26].

Rothmann and Barkhuizen [34] ranked the sources of stress, with workloads being the most significant contributor to stress. The heavy workload could result from changes in academic roles brought on by transformations in higher education. This finding is consistent with previous research, which found that academics experience unmanageable workloads related to teaching, research, and administration as the primary cause of stress [34, 50]. Longer working hours could contribute to academic success in publishing, which is now a central expectation for faculty. As a result, many academic staff are working longer hours [51]. Longer working hours can blur the lines between work and personal life, resulting in conflict. Previous research has shown that long working hours and heavy workloads can interfere with the personal lives of academic staff, leading to work-life imbalance and conflict [52]. Therefore, academics are primarily stressed by their workload and interference, especially when they lack control over their demands [53, 54].

5.2 Bullying

Bullying academic staff members can seriously harm their mental health when it occurs in a university context. Academic bullying refers to repeated and deliberate wrongdoing, such as verbal, psychological, or social harassment, and can come from coworkers, supervisors, or students [28]. The environment this poisonous behavior generates for the people it targets is one of fear, anxiety, and stress. Numerous mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, poor self-esteem, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), can be brought on by people subjected to ongoing ridicule, humiliation, and criticism of their job. An academic's confidence and enthusiasm for their profession may be undermined by repeated bullying, leading them to feel alone, helpless, and imprisoned in a hostile setting [28].

5.3 Transformation

The transformation in South African universities has caused increased stress among academic staff due to the pressure to meet transformation targets and goals, uncertainty, ambiguity in job roles and expectations, conflicts and tensions, resistance and pushback from stakeholders, and limited resources and funding constraints. It is important for institutions to recognize and address these stressors by providing support, resources, and clear guidelines to ensure a smooth and sustainable transformation process that considers the well-being of academic staff [55].

5.4 Burnout

According to Schaufeli, Taris and Van Rhenen [56], workaholism, burnout, and engagement have unique patterns of relationships with variables such as long working hours, job characteristics, work outcomes, quality of social relationships, and perceived health. De Jonge, Bosma [47] also found that academic staff with an effort-reward imbalance, high job demands, and low job control had an increased risk of emotional exhaustion, mental health and physical health complaints, and job dissatisfaction. Wright and Cropanzano [57] discovered that academic staff with positive emotional symptoms had higher performance ratings from their superiors than those with negative emotional symptoms. Harter, Schmidt and Hayes [45] concluded that workplaces with engaged academic staff were more productive than those with disengaged academic staff.

Barkhuizen and Rothmann [53] suggest that all sources of occupational stress in academia are experienced at similar levels. This indicates that all sources contribute equally to the intensity of the stress experienced by academic staff. Prior studies have highlighted stressors such as work overload, work-life balance [58], job security, career advancement, lack of control, and lack of resources and communication as sources of increasing concern among academics [50, 53]. The sources of occupational stress related to career advancement, and job security were not as prominent among the academics [50, 58]. Another study by Jansen and Taylor [59] reported less stress related to the lack of resources available to them, possibly because historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) in South Africa have had fewer resources compared to historically white universities (HWUs). In addition, the study discovered that academics were more worried about the volume of work and obligations they had to do than the stability of their employment. This might be because South African academics have permanent posts following a two-year probationary term, unlike their peers in other nations who do not have the same level of job security [60].

6 Conclusion

It is clear from this review that academic staff members are particularly prone to burnout, especially when workplaces are changing, and numerous demands are placed on them by a pandemic. The findings demonstrate the urgent need for proper action to address this problem and protect the academic staff's well-being. The review shows that academic staff members experience extremely high levels of burnout, which can have negative effects on their productivity and general well-being. Adopting more integrated approaches to workload distribution is essential to preventing burnout in the future and accelerating the recovery process for individuals presently experiencing it. Transparency should be given top priority in these strategies, and the gendered dimensions of workload distribution should also be considered. Institutions can promote a better work environment and lower the risk of burnout by adopting comprehensive policies that address the problems faced by academic staff. Given the long-term detrimental effects of burnout on both performance and academic staff well-being, it is crucial to prioritize implementing strategies for preventing and effectively managing burnout. In conclusion, the academic community must cooperate to establish a positive and healthy working environment that protects the staff's mental and physical health. By doing this, academic institutions may both lessen the negative consequences of burnout and foster a work atmosphere that encourages efficiency, creativity, and the success of their academic staff. In conclusion, specific workplace factors like high teaching loads, administrative duties, research pressures, a lack of institutional support, and the consequences of academic rankings and funding have an impact on academic staff burnout in South African universities. Academic staff experiences and stress levels are influenced by socio-cultural factors, such as historical injustices, socio-economic challenges, racial dynamics, and change demands. Burnout can be lessened by personal characteristics such as coping methods, resilience, work-life balance, and attitudes on the worth of one's job. Promoting the wellbeing and performance of academic staff in South African universities requires understanding and addressing these aspects.