Well-being of academics in the changing higher education systems of central and eastern Europe

Abstract

While the impact of job demands and resources on employee well-being has been well established in occupational psychology, empirical studies of this impact among academic staff in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe remain scarce. This study examines the emotional well-being of academic staff in five Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries –Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine –within the context of rapidly evolving higher education systems. Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) framework and data from a cross-national survey, the manner in which job demands (e.g. workload, emotional exhaustion, work-life conflict) and job resources (e.g. managerial support, peer collaboration, development opportunities) shape well-being outcomes was analysed. Regression results identify emotional exhaustion, workplace bullying, work-life conflict and workload as strong negative predictors of well-being. Contrary to standard JD–R assumptions, job resources did not exert a direct protective effect under conditions of elevated cumulative demands, suggesting a demand-dominated regime specific to the CEE institutional context. Significant disparities in well-being were observed by age, academic rank and national context. By applying the JD–R model to a geopolitically distinct and institutionally fluid region, this study contributes new insight into how structural and cultural factors mediate academic experiences that offer actionable directions for higher education institutions seeking to promote sustainable academic careers in post-socialist systems.