Administrative Work and Institutional Challenges in State Universities: Executive Officers’ Experiences through a Sustainable Development Goal Lens

Executive officers have an important responsibility when it comes to the management and smooth running of public institutions of higher education and ensuring their uninterrupted service. However, growing demands of administrative work, shortages of executives and other non-academic staff, and inequities of a structural nature within the professional hierarchy, have focused and heightened work dissatisfaction among these professionals. The purpose of this qualitative study, therefore, is to examine the phenomenon that is the dissatisfaction of executive officers arising from excessive workload, long working hours, and the absence of personnel and resources, as well as dissatisfaction relating to promotions, increments in pay, and other benefits. Using a specific research framework, executive officers with different administrative responsibilities from the public universities were selected, and a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed with a focus on themes to find patterns, and meanings that were comparable. The findings show intensive work, unpaid work, work after hours (both late at night and early morning), work for which pay does not correspond with the position held, and chronic shortages of work resources. The participants identified dissatisfaction that was associated with a lack of timely promotions, little increase in the salaries, inequities and differential treatment associated with newer or contracted staff with the same or lower qualifications. These factors were associated with emotional weariness, a lowered sense of commitment to the organization, motivation, the conflict between work and family, and a sense of loss of control. The findings, while viewed from the Sustainable Development Goals initiative, especially Goals 3, 8, 10, and 16, center on systemic issues of decent work and its absence, emotional and physical health, inequality, and institutional justice. The studies highlight the importance of instituting changes that include reforms of human resource policies, management of workloads, and the administrative restructuring which will help improve executive officers’ governance and well-being.

executive officers, work pressure, promotion dissatisfaction

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