(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
and individual teachers who took part in an informal focus group on the topic of emotional labor
and its impact on the classroom. Of the 250 writing teachers who were emailed, 61 (24.4 %)
completed and returned completed surveys. These individuals became the respondents for the
study.
After a brief introduction that explained the survey’s purpose and defined the term emotional
labor, participants were asked to respond to this statement: I experience Emotional Labor in my
performance as a writing teacher. The majority of respondents (86.9 %) indicated they “strongly
agreed” 44.3 %) or “agreed” (42.6 %) with the statement. The remainder indicated that they were
“neutral” (11.5 %) or “disagreed” (1.6 %) with the statement.
The survey utilized a rank-order Likert scale in which respondents prioritized their answers on a
scale of 1 to 10 with 1 having the least significance to them and 10 having the greatest
significance to them. Respondents were asked to address 54 specific key words/phrases in six
categories: Causes of Emotional Labor; Concerns Related to Emotional Labor; Effects of
Emotional Labor; Respondents’ Perceptions of Institutional Priorities; Respondents’ Priorities
Compared to Institutional Priorities; and Respondents’ Coping Strategies. Respondents were
also able to provide personal comments at the end of each category regarding the impact of
emotional labor on their work experience.
Because individual views on each of the 54 specific key words/phrases generated responses that
could range from 1 to 10 along the rating scale, a statistical rating average was used to provide a
numerical breakdown for each category. The rating averages indicate the overall level of
concern that writing instructors feel regarding that category. The three highest rating averages in
each category are bold faced.
Category 1—Causes of Emotional Labor Among Respondents
Amount of time required for grading (8.23)
Frustrations over student performance (6.67)
Publication requirements for promotion and tenure (5.36)
Lack of institutional support such as personnel or funding 5.82)
Teaching loads (6.52)
Institutional expectations beyond teaching loads (6.62)
Competition with colleagues (2.62)
New technology demands (4.39)
Degree of autonomy in course development (3.02)
The survey indicates that, on average, respondents feel the amount of time required for grading
and, to a lesser degree, frustration over student performance, are significant causes of emotional
labor. Several respondents reported that these two situations, coupled with their institutional
expectations, prompted them to have to make difficult choices about what work got done and
what didn’t because of the overall lack of time in their professional lives. Thus, grading can
contribute to the level of emotional labor writing instructors feel by requiring energy and time
that could otherwise be spent on other job-related responsibilities. Because a good deal of
assignment grading often takes place after normal work hours, writing instructors may often feel
like they never actually get away from the work environment, which can exacerbate their
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