J-SCHOOL PROFESSORS DRIVEN CRAZY BY THE TECHNOLOGY THEY LOVE

by Susannah Dainow

Technology-both learning to use it and trying to keep up with it-causes journalism professors significant amounts of stress, according to a new report by three researchers at the Indiana University School of Journalism.

"Most journalism and mass-communication educators harbor basically positive feelings about the technology in their professional lives," says the report [released in August]. "But that doesn't mean the technology doesn't bring stress as well."

The report is based on a study, conducted during the past year, for which the researchers surveyed more than 450 journalism professors and administrators about their attitudes toward technology and about its impact on their professional lives.

Among six categories of stress factors, technology ranked second only to general time constraints in the amount of stress caused to the faculty members surveyed, surpassing even worries about tenure and personal issues. For 73 percent of the faculty members and 74 percent of the administrators, technology caused a moderate or great deal of stress every day.

Technology-induced stress also contributed significantly to job dissatisfaction and burnout.

The study also found that 83.8 percent of the faculty members surveyed said that learning new technologies took time away from their research, with 71 percent learning one or two new programs a year. Journalism professors "are an active learning group," the study reported.

Higher-ranking faculty members were more likely to feel technology-induced stress than were their junior counterparts; women were also more likely than men to feel tech stress.

Most faculty members agreed that they wanted and needed to learn more about using technology, but they felt that "the training just isn't sufficient," said Christine Ogan, a professor of journalism at Indiana who was one of the authors of the report. "They're getting more training than we expected, but they still say it's not enough for their needs."

#

Susannah Dainow is an editorial intern with the Chronicle of Higher Education.

"Technology Causes Stress for Journalism Professors, Report States," Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. 10, 2001.