(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
Demanding formal/informal changes within the unit or department (3.8)
Using social outlets (e.g. listening to music or physical exercise) (7.38)
Using humor or finding other pleasurable outlets (7.79)
Expressing “inappropriate” emotions (e.g. yelling or belittling others) (2.1)
Respondents indicated that they must work increasingly longer hours to complete their various
tasks. However, their views on social outlets and humor indicate that they find ways to cope with
the emotional demands of their jobs. While respondents cited working longer hours as their most
significant coping strategy, it also was their primary cause of emotional labor. Despite the
demands of their jobs, however, 67.2 % of the respondents felt that expressing “inappropriate”
emotions was, in fact, inappropriate behavior and gave it a 1/10 in terms of their least utilized
coping strategy. This supports Vey’s (2005) contention that while people frequently experience a
wide range of emotions during a given workday, they limit their expression in the interest of
professionalism.
Key Issues from the Pilot Study
Based on responses to the structured questions and respondents’ comments regarding their views
on emotional labor, several key issues emerged from this pilot study:
1—Respondents are concerned about the amount of time required for job-related responsibilities
such as grading and teaching loads and institutional expectations beyond their teaching duties.
Most said they ended up working longer hours to accomplish their tasks, which was cited both as
a concern and a coping strategy. However, this raises concerns over the challenge of work-life
balance in writing teachers’ lives—which can lead to faster employee burnout.
2—Respondents experience frustration over what some perceive as a lack of adequate academic
preparation on the part of incoming students. This frustration is often compounded by
organizational efforts, for example, to encourage recruitment and retention of students—some of
whom may not be ready for mainstream college-level academic work. Several suggested that
institutions should give more attention to this and provide greater resources to help academically
challenged students. According to one report (Watkins, 2009), California’s state universities are
having to send an estimated one-third “of their incoming freshmen to remedial classes to
compensate for what they didn’t learn in high school” (para. 6). While this pilot study was
directed toward writing instructors in U.S. institutions, the issue of student competency appears
to be an international problem. The results of a survey cited in The Japan Times (2010)
conducted between December 2009 and January 2010 involving 723 public and private Japanese
universities found that 65 % of these institutions are offering high school-level supplementary
lessons and other special measures to cope with academic deficiencies in math and science
among incoming freshmen. This, in itself, is enough to cause concern on the part of instructors
who expect students to have a certain proficiency level before they enter college/university.
3—Respondents expressed concern over what some describe as “lip service” on the part of their
institutions with regard to diversity initiatives and international education. Respondents feel their
institutions are not doing enough to provide a tangible commitment of resources to increase all
types of diversity, not only among the student population, but among teaching faculty and staff,
as well.
163