This month I’m leading the fourth session of my course, “Deconstructing the Low-Morale Experience in Academic Libraries,” being hosted on the Library Juice Academy platform. We are currently in our third week, and I asked students enrolled in the course to participate in my Low-Morale Experience Assessment Survey, which helps us get an on-the-spot understanding of what this cohort has navigated/is navigating in their current or past workplaces.
Course attendees, who work in various academic, school, or academic-adjacent libraries in North America and internationally, agreed I could share summarized results. Thirteen people are enrolled in the class, and the following results reflect eight participants’ responses (participation was optional).
- 75% have experienced low-morale according to the 2017 Kendrick study definition. 25% aren’t sure.
- 65% have experienced low-morale in a current and a past workplace; 25% at a current workplace; 13% at a past workplace.
- 63% indicate their experience lasted more than three years; 13% each indicated 1- 3 years, 10 – 12 months, and 4-6 months.
- 75% indicate that the perpetrators are library supervisors or managers; 65% each indicated library administrators and Library colleagues; 50% indicate direct reports; 38% indicate campus administrators; 13% indicate campus colleagues (i.e., “teaching faculty”)
- 88% each indicate they experience(d) emotional abuse and negligence; 75% system abuse; 38% verbal/written abuse; 13% not sure.
- Leadership Styles (100%), Uncertainty & Mistrust (88%), Staffing/Employment (75%), and Library/Librarian Perceptions (75%); are major contributors to this groups’ LMEs. Also indicated: “Lack of transparency and respect, powerlessness.”
- 100% of respondents indicate feelings of Anger and Depression; 88% of respondents indicated Disillusion, Worry, and Skepticism; 75% indicated Sadness, Despair, and Regret; 63% indicated Shame.
- 63% aren’t sure if they developed physical health conditions as result of the LME, 25% have developed physical health conditions as a result of their LME, including ulcers and insomnia.
- 63% have developed mental health conditions as a result of the LME, including anxiety and increased depression. 25% aren’t sure if they’ve developed mental health conditions as a result of their LME.
- 100% have noticed a desire to change careers; 88% have noticed a decrease in professional engagement, a decrease in professional development, and a decreased willingness to collaborate; 75% have noticed a decrease in work productivity; 63% have noticed increased procrastination; 50% have noticed increased absenteeism; 38% have noticed increased lateness; 13% have noticed learned helplessness.
I appreciate the cohort’s willingness to share their results and offer an updated insight on low-morale experience markers, particularly in this first session of the course since the official end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.
View the May 2020 BIPOC cohort’s Low-Morale Experience Assessment Survey results.
View the January 2020 cohort’s Low-Morale Experience Assessment Survey results
View the May 2019 cohort’s Low-Morale Experience Assessment Survey results.
View the October 2018 cohort’s Low-Morale Experience Assessment Survey results.
