Journal of Education and Human Development

Exploring the Causes of Job Stress and Coping Strategies among the Faculty of Public Universities
Muhammad Azhar Haseeb, Shazıa Abdul Sattar

Abstract
Teacher stress has emerged as a topic of great concern in the world. The purpose of the study was to explore the causes of workplace stress among university teachers in Pakistan and the strategies they use to handle the stress. The study was qualitative in nature and narrative approach was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from a sample of 12 university teachers, representing three public universities of Lahore, i.e. four teachers from each university. Snowball sampling technique was used for the selection of the participants. All the participants were male faculty members and the range of their age was 40-57. Thematic analysis technique was used to extract major themes from recorded interviews. The study indicated workload, long duration of work hours, lack of professional development, role conflict, inappropriate behavior from students, unsupportive university administration and lack of resources as the major causes of job stress among university teachers. The study has a potential impact because a stress free teacher can work more efficiently and effectively and perform better as compared to a stressful teacher. It is recommended that teachers should be provided trainings and opportunities so they could enable them to minimize the stress.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jehd.v7n4a4