Systematic review: Burnout and occupational stress in higher education employees
Abstract
Research findings indicated that the higher education sector is progressively experiencing
occupational stress and burnout. There are many factors that contribute to the increase in stress
and burnout, such as transformational policies, student protests, issues of retention and
throughput, internalisation and student mobility, funding challenges, massification, curricular
changes informed by decolonisation, providing epistemological access, and contextual
relevance. Continuous changes in the academic landscape and student protests have become a
reality of the past two decades. As a result, higher education is considered more stressful as
functions are performed in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA)
environment.