Workload and Stress (Qs 25 and 26)
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Survey questions regarding climate can be divided into five themes: 1) workload, stress levels, and sources of stress, 2) discrimination and harassment, 3) perceptions of fairness, 4) the extent to which people feel that they and their unit are valued by others, and 5) satisfaction with the Purdue campus and the Greater Lafayette Community.

Looking first at workload, 82% perceived that the pace of work in their unit seems to be increasing annually and only 53% of faculty believed that they have as much time available for research as do others at their level in the unit. However, 77% also believed that their unit expects a reasonable level of output from them.

In terms of stress levels, approximately half of faculty perceived that they are asked to serve on too many committees (47%) and that an excessive workload is interfering with their personal lives (55%). In addition, a slight majority feels burned out from work (52%). (See Table 28)

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Differences by School

Faculty from CFS (95%), the Libraries (95%), Technology (95%), and Veterinary Medicine (96%) were more likely than average (82%) to report that the pace of work in their unit seems to be increasing annually, while those in the Liberal Arts (68%), Management (65%), and Science (69%) were the least likely to perceive this to be the case. Management faculty (70%) were also more likely than average (52%) to believe that they have as much time available for research as do others at their level in the unit, while Veterinary Medicine faculty (40%) were the least likely to believe this to be true.

Management’s comparatively positive outlook toward their workload continues as we examine the stress-related questions. These faculty were also the least likely to say that they are asked to serve on too many committees (28% compared to an average of 47%), that their workload is interfering with their personal lives (28% vs. an average of 54%), and that they feel burned out (28% vs. a 52% average).

A higher than average proportion of Education (77%) and Library faculty (65%) felt that they are asked to serve on too many committees, while faculty from Agriculture (68%), CFS (70%), Engineering (67%), and the Libraries (68%) were the most likely to report that an excessive workload is interfering with their personal lives. Finally, Agriculture (63%) and Veterinary Medicine faculty (63%) were the most likely to feel burned out from their work.

Full professors tended to have the most positive outlook regarding workload and stress levels, while associate professors generally had the least positive outlook. Specifically, although professors were more likely than the others to agree that the pace of work in their unit seems to be increasing annually (86% vs. 80% of associate and 76% of assistant professors), they were also the most likely to indicate that their unit expects a reasonable level of output from them (81% agree vs. 73% of associate and 74% of assistant professors) and the least likely to say that an excessive work load is interfering with their personal lives (52% vs. 57% of associate and 58% of assistant professors).

Associate professors, on the other hand, were the least likely to believe that they have as much time for research as do others at their level in their unit (44% vs. 55% of assistant and 57% of full professors) and the most likely to believe that they are asked to serve on too many committees (54% vs. 40% of assistant and 48% of full professors). (Full professors, however, actually reported spending a higher proportion of their time on internal committee work than associate professors – see Time Allocation above). Associate professors also feel burned out from their work at a substantially higher rate than assistant and full professors (60% vs. 48% for the others).

Differences by Gender

Females and males perceived several aspects of their workloads quite differently. Females were less likely than males to feel that their unit expects a reasonable level of output from them (68% vs. 80%) and that they have as much time available for research as do others at their level in their unit (43% vs. 56%). In addition, they were more likely to believe that they are asked to serve on too many committees (54% of females vs. 45% of males). Referring again to the Time Allocation questions above, females do in fact report spending slightly less time than males on research-related activities and more time serving on internal committees. While females were more likely than males to report that an excessive workload is interfering with their personal lives (59% vs. 53%), they are only slightly more likely to feel burned out from their work (53% vs. 50%).

Differences by Race

Asian Americans were the least likely to believe that they have as much time available for research as do others at their level (38% vs. 46% of underrepresented minorities and 53% of Caucasians) and the most likely to believe they are asked to serve on too many committees (57% vs. 46% of underrepresented minorities and 48% of Caucasians). However, in terms of the proportion of time that this group spends on these two activities, they reported spending more time on research than both underrepresented minorities and Caucasians. They also reported spending the least amount of time on committee work of the three groups. Finally, this group is more likely than the others to feel burned out from their work (55% vs. 39% of underrepresented minorities and 52% of Caucasians).

Underrepresented minorities, although the least likely to feel burned out, were slightly more likely than the others to feel that an excessive work load is interfering with their personal lives (61% vs. 58% of Asian Americans and 55% of Caucasians). Caucasians, for their part, were the most likely to believe that the pace of work in their unit is increasing annually (83% vs. 71% of Asian Americans and 63% of underrepresented minorities).