The Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers

The Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers
by
Koh Esther
Ida Suhaini Tajul Urus
Kho Hui Yen
The purpose of the study was to determine the level of burnout among
lecturers in IPBA. The sample consisted of 50 lecturers who were selected
randomly from the various departments. The survey questionnaire used
was the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Interviews were also held to
help explain the findings from the survey. The results showed that generally
the level of burnout among IPBA lecturers was low. That notwithstanding,
the results also showed that there were quite a number of lecturers who
were highly burnt out on at least one of the three subscales.
37

Introduction
There are 94 lecturers currently teaching in the International Languages Teacher Training
Institute (IPBA). The lecturers come from ten different departments, such as the Social
Studies, Education and the English Language departments. Generally, apart from
conducting lectures, the lecturers also have to do some multi-tasking activities such as
taking charge of co-curricular activities, organizing the annual convocation ceremony and
other such activities.
Statement of the Problem
In view of the heavy workload of lecturers, it would not be surprising to find some lecturers
either stressed or burnt out. Obviously, lecturers who are burnt out will not be able to
perform their duties to the best of their abilities. Exactly how serious is the situation among
IPBA lecturers? So far, no study has been conducted in this direction.
Research Questions
This study hopes to answer the following questions:
1. What is the level of burnout among IPBA lecturers?
2. Does age, teaching experience, gender and marital status influence the level of
burnout among lecturers?
3. What are some of the causes of burnout among IPBA lecturers?
Significance of the Study
The findings from this study are significant because they can provide valuable information
for both lecturers and administrators on the burnout levels of lecturers. By having this
information, lecturers can take steps to avoid aggravating their burnout levels. Administrators
can organize seminars, workshops or other activities that can help lecturers cope with
burnout. They can also take steps to prevent lecturers from being burnt out.
Limitation of the Study
This study was limited to IPBA lecturers. As such, the findings may not be generalizable to
lecturers in all the teacher training institutes in Malaysia.
Definition of Terms
Burnout
In general, most studies have in some way espoused the combination of definitions of
38

urnout by Farber (1984) and Maslach and Jackson (1981) namely, burnout is the final
step in a progression of unsuccessful attempts to cope with negative stress conditions
and that burnout can be seen from three aspects of subscales, that of emotional
exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishments (Aeria, 1995).
The subscale of emotional exhaustion burnout refers to feelings of physical and
emotional exhaustion and ennui as a result of daily work pressures and time constraints.
Depersonalisation burnout occurs as a result of the incessant interactions among helpers
(for example, lecturers) and clients (for example, students) and this form of burnout
is categorized by the development of negative attitudes and impersonal responses
towards the people with whom one works closely. Personal accomplishments burnout
indicates a loss of self- esteem and work accomplishment as a consequence of limited
positive feedback and recognition (Maslach & Jackson, 1981).
Level of Burnout
Respondents indicated their level of agreement to each of the 22 items in the Maslach
Burnout Inventory (MBI) based on an 8 point Likert rating scale, a ‘1’ indicates very
mild or untrue while a ‘7’, very strong or true. The respondents score ‘0’ (zero) if the
feeling or attitude described is never experienced.
The total of the scores is then summed up according to the three subscales. The
level of burnout is then determined by the mean obtained for each subscale as shown
in Table 1. The range of experienced burnout has been categorized following that of
Aeria’s categorization of MBI scores.
Table 1: Categorization of MBI mean
Note: Items on personal accomplishment have been reversed-scored
Source: Adapted from Aeria (1995).
As can be seen from Table 1, if a respondent obtained a mean of 4.00 or less for the
Emotional Exhaustion (EE) subscale, then he is deemed to experience a low level
of burnout. A mean of above 4.33 indicates that the respondent experiences a high
burnout level for EE. Note that the means for the range of experienced burnout level
varies between the subscales.
39

Methodology
Sample
50 lecturers were randomly selected from the total of 94 lecturers. The breakdown of
the number of lecturers selected is shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Demographic Data of the Sample
Demographic Variable
Frequeuncy
Sample
Percentage (%)
Sex
Male
Female
Age
40 years and below
Above 40 years
Marital Status
Single
Married
Teaching Experience
15 years and below
Above 15 years
Department
English Language Department
Other Department
15
35
25
25
08
42
11
39
25
25
30
70
50
50
16
84
22
78
50
50
Instrument
In order to collect the data for this experiment, a survey questionnaire, MBI, was taken
from Aeria (1995). An interview schedule was also adapted to elicit further information
from the respondents. The questionnaire and interview schedule was validated by a
lecturer in IPBA so as to ensure that the instrument was appropriate for its purpose.
Data Collection Procedures
Before the MBI was administered to the sample, it was piloted on three lecturers.
These lecturers were asked to comment on the clarity of the items and to highlight any
items that they felt were ambiguous. Feedback from the lecturers showed that there
were no items that needed corrections.
After the pilot run, the MBI was administered to the sample. The responses to the survey
questionnaire were then analyzed. Based on the analysis, an interview schedule was
developed to elicit further information from the lecturers with respect to the level of
burnout among lecturers.
40

Five lecturers from the sample were selected to be interviewed. The responses during
the interview were then analyzed and used to explain the findings from the MBI.
Data Analysis
Table 3 and Figure 1 show the mean level of burnout among IPBA lecturers. From the table
and figure, it can be seen that the mean for the EE, DP and PA subscales are 3.52, 1.76
and 2.04 respectively.
Based on the criteria as shown in Table 1, the results indicate that generally IPBA lecturers
experience only a low level of burnout in the EE and PA subscales while they face a
moderate level of burnout in the DP subscale. This indicates that generally IPBA lecturers
experience low levels of physical and emotional ennui due to their daily work pressures and
time constraints. Also the results indicate that IPBA lecturers generally do not experience
a loss of self- esteem and work accomplishment.
Table 3: The Mean of Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers
Subscale
Emotional
Exhaustion
Depersonalisation
Personal
Accomplishments
Mean 3.52
1.76
2.04
Figure 1: The Mean of Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers
4.00
3.52
Mean
3.00
2.00
1.00
1.76
2.04
0.00
Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalisation Personal
Accomplishments
Subscale
41

While the overall results above indicate that on the whole IPBA lecturers have a low level
of burnout for the EE and PA subscales and a moderate level for the DP subscale, an
analysis of the number of individual lecturers experiencing a high level of burnout for each
of the subscales showed surprising results. Table 4 and Figure 2 show the percentage and
frequency of lecturers experiencing low, moderate and high levels of burnout.
The results show that more than 50% of the IPBA lecturers experience a low level of burnout
for all three subscales and this is consistent with the results in Table 3. However, the results
also show that as many as 38% of the lecturers are experiencing a high level of burnout
for the EE subscale. This indicates that more than 1 in 3 lecturers are experiencing a high
level of physical and emotional ennui. Table 4 also shows that as many as 20% and 32%
of the lecturers are experiencing high burnout for the DP and PA subscales respectively.
This indicates that quite a number of lecturers have a high tendency to develop impersonal
responses towards students and colleagues. The results also indicate that one out of three
lecturers feel that they receive limited positive feedback and recognition for their work thus
resulting in a loss of self-esteem.
Interviews held with lecturers indicated that one of the possible reasons for the surprising
results is that there is an uneven distribution of tasks and responsibilities. This could
explain why some lecturers have a low level of burnout for all three subscales whereas
others suffer high burnout for at least one of the subscales.
Table 4: The Frequency of Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers
Subscale
Level of
Burnout
Emotional
Exhaustion
Depersonalisation
Personal
Accomplishments
Percentage Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage Frequency
Low
52.00% 26
54.00% 27
68.00% 34
Moderate 10.00% 5 26.00% 13 0.00% 0
High 38.00% 19 20.00% 10 32.00% 16
42

Figure 2: The Percentage of Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers
Percentage (%)
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
52 54
10
38
26
Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalisation Personal
Accomplishments
Subscale
20
68
0
32
Low
Moderate
High
Table 5 and Figure 3 show the level of burnout among IPBA lecturers according to age. As
can be seen, the mean for the lecturers aged 40 and below for the EE subscale is 3.64,
while that for lecturers above 40 is 3.41. The results also show that in all three subscales,
the lecturers aged 40 and below had higher means than those aged above 40.
The results indicate that the younger lecturers experience a slightly higher burnout level
than the older lecturers for all three subscales. This result is consistent with that of previous
studies (McIntyre, 1982; Crane & Iwanicki, 1986) that found burnout is greatest when
people workers, in this case lecturers, are young and is lower for older workers (as cited
in Aeria, 1995).
Table 5 : The Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers according to Age
Subscale (Mean)
Age
(years)
Emotional
Exhaustion
Depersonalisation
Personal
Accomplishments
40 and below
3.64
1.94
2.15
Above 40 3.41 1.58 1.94
43

Figure 3: The Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers according to Age
Mean
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
3.64
3.41
1.94
1.58
2.15
1.94
Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalisation Personal
Accomplishments
Subscale
40 yrs & below
Above 40 yrs
Table 6 and Figure 4 show the level of burnout among IPBA lecturers according to teaching
experience. From the table and figure, it can be seen that the mean for lecturers with 15
years of teaching experience and below is 3.99 for the EE subscale, which is 0.6 higher
than the mean recorded by the lecturers with above 15 years of teaching experience. The
results also show that the lecturers with lesser teaching experience score higher means in
all three subscales compared to lecturers with longer teaching experience.
The results indicate that the newer lecturers experience higher burnout level compared
to the older lecturers. This result is consistent with the results in Table 5 where younger
lecturers, who are also most probably those with lesser teaching experience, suffer higher
burnout compared to the older lecturers. This finding is also consistent with findings from
previous studies (Maslach, 1982b; Crane & Iwanicki, 1986; Pierce & Molloy, 1990) that
found newer lecturers were more likely to experience higher burnout than more experienced
ones.
Table 6: The Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers
according to Teaching Experience
Teaching
Experience
(years)
Emotional
Exhaustion
Subscale (Mean)
Depersonalisation
Personal
Accomplishments
15 and below
3.99
1.80
2.11
Above 15 3.39 1.74 2.02
44

Figure 4: The Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers
according to Teaching Experience
Mean
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
3.99
3.39
1.80
1.74
2.11
2.02
Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalisation Personal
Accomplishments
Subscale
15 yrs & below
Above 15 yrs
Table 7 and Figure 5 show the level of burnout among IPBA lecturers according to gender.
As can be seen from the table, the mean for female lecturers for the EE subscale is 3.53
while the mean for the male lecturers is 3.52 giving a difference of only 0.01 between their
burnout means. The results also show that for all three subscales, the difference in mean
among the genders is at most 0.06.
The results indicate that both genders experienced quite a similar burnout level. This
finding is consistent with that of previous studies (Maslach, 1982) which reported men and
women are fairly similar in their experience of burnout except that men show slightly more
depersonalization burnout (as cited in Aeria, 1995).
Table 7: The Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers according to Gender
Subscale (Mean)
Gender
Emotional
Exhaustion
Depersonalisation
Personal
Accomplishments
Female
3.53
1.74
2.05
Male 3.52 1.80 2.03
45

Figure 5: The Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers
according to Gender
4.00
3.53
3.52
Mean
3.00
2.00
1.00
1.74
1.80
2.05
2.03
Female
Male
0.00
Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalisation Personal
Accomplishments
Subscale
Table 8 and Figure 6 show the level of burnout among IPBA lecturers according to marital
status. As can be seen from the table, the married lecturers recorded a mean of 3.44 for
the EE subscale while the single lecturers recorded 3.99. The results also show that the
means for the single lecturers are higher in all three subscales compared to the married
lecturers.
The results indicate that single lecturers experience higher burnout levels compared to
those who are married. This is consistent with previous studies (Mo, 1991; Golembiewski,
Munzenrider & Carter, 1986) that found people workers, in this case lecturers, who are
single, experience more burnout than those who are married.
Table 8: The Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers
according to Marital Status
Subscale (Mean)
Marital
Status
Emotional
Exhaustion
Depersonalisation
Personal
Accomplishments
Married
3.44
1.74
2.00
Single 3.99 1.85 2.25
46

Figure 6: The Level of Burnout among IPBA Lecturers
according to Marital Status
Mean
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
3.44
3.99
1.74 1.85
2.00
2.25
Emotional Exhaustion Depersonalisation Personal
Accomplishments
Subscale
Married
Single
Conclusion
The findings from this study show that the level of burnout among IPBA lecturers is generally
low. The findings also show that although the mean level of burnout is low, nonetheless
there are still quite a number of lecturers who are highly burnt out on at least one of the
three subscales.
The results show that the younger lecturers are more burnt out compared to the older
lecturers. This is probably because younger lecturers usually have less experience
in teaching and performing the other tasks required of a lecturer. Due to their lack of
experience, they have insufficient skills to equip themselves in ways of coping with their
workload and in their relationship with others.
Implications and Recommendations
Since there are quite a number of lecturers who are highly burnt out on one of the three
subscales, this implies that there are still some lecturers who are unable to perform their
duties as well as they would like to. Thus, some action should be taken to reduce the
level of burnout among these lecturers. It is recommended that there should be an equal
distribution of work among lecturers as supported by most of the interview respondents.
Furthermore, it is suggested that attempts be made to teach lecturers techniques in coping
with stress and in coping with work pressure.
47

References
Aeria, L. A. (1995). Teacher burnout in the implementation of currucular change in
national secondary schools. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Malaya, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.
Crane, S. J. & Iwanicki, E. F. (1986). Perceived role conflict, role ambiguity and burnout
among special education teachers. Remedial and Special Education, 7 (2), 24-31.
Farber, B. A. (1984). Teacher burnout: Assumptions, myths, and issues. Teachers’ College
Record, 86 (2), 321-338.
Golembiewski, R. T., Munzenrider, R. & Carter, D. (1986). Phases of progressive burnout
and their worksite covariants: Critical issue in OD research and proxies. The Journal of
Applied Behavioral Science, 19, 461-481.
Maslach, C. & Jackson, S. E. (1981). Maslach Burnout Inventory: Manual. Palo Alto, CA:
Consulting Psychologists Press.
Maslach, C. (1982). Burnout, the cost of caring. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
McIntyre, T. (1982). Factors related to burnout: A review of research. Paper presented at
the Annual International Convention of the Council for Excetional Children, Houston.
Mo, K. W. (1991). Teacher burnout: Relations with stress, personality, and social support.
Educational Journal, 19 (1),3-11.
Pierce, M. B. & Molloy, G. N. (1990). Psychological and biographical differences between
secondary school teachers experiencing high and low levels of burnout. British Journal
of Educational Psychology, 60, 37-51.
48