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A Resource List on Academic Stress

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Have the stresses of academic life got you down? We probably can't do much to alleviate that pressure, but we can direct you to a few Web sites and books that might be of help.

Web sites on academic stress

"Alleviating the Torture of the Tenure Track"
The Project on Faculty Appointments at Harvard University offers a number of articles that relate to academic stress, including this one, by Cathy Ann Trower, that looks at the sources of stress for junior faculty members.

"The American College Teacher"
This 1998-99 report contains the results of the latest national survey of faculty members conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute of the University of California at Los Angeles. A major portion of the report includes information about "faculty stressors." (From the main page, click on "Faculty Survey.)

Faculty, staff, and administrative burnout
This site -- run by the National Clearinghouse for Academic Advising at Ohio State University -- offers a lengthy bibliography of book excerpts where you can find information on "burnout" as it relates to all sorts of jobs in academe.

"Understanding and Managing Stress in the Academic World"
A summary report on academic stress prepared by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Personnel Services, in Ann Arbor, Mich.

"Dealing With the Stress of Organizational Change: A Survival Guide"
The text of a 1998 presentation given by Jeanne E. Budig, director of institutional research at Vincennes University.

"Women's Ways of Working"
A paper on the particular stresses facing female faculty members, written by Cannie Stark, a professor of psychology at the University of Regina, in Canada.

"What Matters Most to Morale in the Academic Community?"
This study is the result of a campus survey of faculty members at the University of Idaho. While it is not national in scope, it may be helpful to academics interested in the subject.

Selected books on the stresses of academic life

Coping With Faculty Stress (New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 29, Spring 1987), edited by Peter Seldin. Essays on a range of topics.

Coping With Faculty Stress: Survival Skills for Scholars (Sage Publications, 1993), Walter H. Gmelch. His book, based on interviews with roughly 4,000 faculty members at 100 institutions, identifies five major sources of stress and offers practical advice.

The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life (Jossey-Bass, 1997), by Parker J. Palmer.

Faculty in New Jobs: A Guide to Settling In, Becoming Established, and Building Institutional Support (Jossey-Bass, 1999), by Robert J. Menges and associates. Includes a chapter called "New Faculty Talk about Stress."

Managing Stress: Managing Universities and Colleges Guides to Good Practice (Open University Press, 2000), by Ann Edworthy.

A Comparative Study of Occupational Stress in African American and White University Faculty (Edwin Mellen Press, 1993), by Earl Smith.

Burnout: The New Academic Disease (ASHE-ERIC, 1983), by Winifred Albizu Melendez, Rafel M. De Guzman. This book is out of print.