Psychological Distress, Burnout and Job Satisfaction among Academicians in Science and Technology Faculties in a Malaysian University

Abstract

In Malaysia, academic personnel are under pressure to build international reputation, increase funding and are expected to perform in the key performance indicators to bring education to an international standard. A cross sectional study was conducted among the academicians in Science and Technology faculties in UiTM. The participants were emailed the questionnaires and asked to complete questionnaires on their socio-demographic, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, Job Satisfaction Survey and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. A total of 129 academicians participated in the study with the mean age of 39 years old (SD=7.8). Majority were female, Malays and married. The average teaching hours per week was 13 hours (SD=5.3). The prevalence of stress was 6.2%, depression 11.7% and anxiety 18.7%. Majority has mild to moderate work, personal and client-related burnout. There is inverse correlation between job satisfaction and burnout. Academicians from science and technology faculties have high prevalence of anxiety and moderate prevalence of depression compared to general population. There is low job satisfaction level due to high work-related burnout. It needs to be addressed to ensure academicians have good mental wellbeing to execute their roles. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 23(6) June, 2022; 1-8.