Well-being of academics teaching at faculties of education in Türkiye: A qualitative analysis

Abstract

Higher levels of education and well-being are the indicators of the prosperity of nations and consequently the world. The academics that work at faculties of education are among the building blocks that contribute to the well-being of nations through the teachers they educate. The main purpose of this study is to explore the views of academics teaching at faculties of education on how their well-being is affected by their marital status, administrative duties, and professional seniority. In this qualitative phenomenological study, the data were collected through in-depth interviews. The quota sampling technique was adopted to ensure the diversity of participants and the richness of data. The participants were A total number of 20 academics teaching at 7 different faculties of education in Turkey. The data were analyzed by content analysis and findings are discussed in relation to prior research in the literature. The results of the study suggest that; for marital status, that sharing life and having support in a balanced relationship, being a parent, and motivation provided by the partner increase academics’ well-being while having to spare time to family and the negative social attitude towards single individuals negatively affect it. Regarding the administrative duties, taking responsibilities, being recognized for accomplishments, socialization, feeling of achievement, widening perspective, and reaching vast sources have a positive effect on well-being while the relationships based on self-interest and spending more time to administrative duties than academic studies reduce it. As for the professional seniority, accumulation of experience and knowledge, gaining titles, and widening social networks positively affect academics’ well-being while injustice, not getting tenure, and bureaucratic obstacles have a negative effect.