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Despite an extensive body of literature on higher education, few studies address how both contract and tenured professors experience the academic workplace shaped by neoliberalism. This dissertation highlights how neoliberal political and economic policies affect the workloads and well-being of professors regardless of hiring position. The dissertation begins with an ethnographic introduction of what prompted the research project followed by Chapter 2 which discusses how neoliberalism has transformed universities. Chapters 3 to 5 explore how this transformation plays out in the academic workplace followed by Chapter 6’s discussion and conclusions.
The first integrated article (Chapter 3) discusses the division of labour surrounding student support. Drawing on quantitative data from a 2023 online survey, the chapter examines the division of labour surrounding student support. It explores the interplay of type of institution, faculty position and social factors, such as gender, race and age, in determining the number of student support requests received by professors and levels of stress experienced.
The second integrated article (Chapter 4) draws on data from the same survey to examine the relationship between overwork and professorial well-being. Workplace stresses and strain levels vary among faculty positions, but findings also show there is a gendered dimension of workplace stressors that impact productivity and well-being. The final integrated article (Chapter 5) is a case study using photovoice to tell the story of five women professors. Their stories of institutional, social and personal barriers offer insight into how women professors actively manage the academic culture of overwork yet work-life balance remains illusory.
The overarching goal of this dissertation is to contribute to the current literature on professions in higher education. In opening the discussion for professors and their unions to challenge existing formal and informal policies that affect their workloads and well-being, this dissertation also promotes a critical assessment of the interplay of faculty position and social factors in the divisions of labour and stress experienced in the academic workplace.