Psychological Empowerment and Job Stress in Higher Education Institutions in Ecuador

Abstract

Purpose Both psychological empowerment and job stress have been the subjects of great concern, studied mainly in developed countries. In emerging economies, few studies have contributed to the knowledge of the relationship between these two constructs. This study analyzed the relationship between the dimensions of psychological empowerment and job stress in tenured professors from public higher education institutions in Ecuador during 2019, providing insights for achieving better results regarding the productivity and well-being of teachers. This research seeks to bridge the knowledge gap concerning psychological empowerment and job stress within an academic context in an emerging economy. Methods In this quantitative study, a confirmatory model was proposed. Correlation analysis was used to investigate whether psychological empowerment dimensions are related to job stress. Data were collected from a sample of 200 tenured professors working at public universities located in Zone 3 of Ecuador in 2019. The instrument applied for psychological empowerment was proposed by Spreitzer, composed of four dimensions—meaning, competence, impact, and autonomy. For job stress, the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised (OSI-R) instrument applied was proposed and revised by Osipow. Results Through structural equation modeling with partial least squares, it was possible to demonstrate that psychological empowerment reduces levels of job stress only when it is perceived that there is autonomy, fewer limitations, and more freedom. No evidence was identified that other components of psychological empowerment, such as meaning, competence, and impact, are related to job stress. Conclusion The results indicated that the model used to explain the relationship between these variables had weak predictive power. Furthermore, only one research hypothesis is accepted. Finally, these findings are corroborated and explained by the different perspectives presented by various authors.

Teachers’ mental health issues associated with the university reopening at the onset of the post-COVID-19 era in Ecuador

“…For instance, university teachers have also been considerably affected at work and professionally due to the pandemic (UNESCO, 2020). However, limited literature on the risk of mental health problems in this group has been conducted before (Jácome & Chión, 2022) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al, 2021). Accordingly, more attention needs to be paid to vaccinated university teachers who may be highly concerned prior to their imminent return to face-toface academic activities.…”

Estrés y manifestaciones psicosomáticas en el personal de salud

“…Como señalanGómez & Álvarez,(2021), los profesionales de salud, han sido siempre inmiscuidos en un ambiente en donde se exige gran demanda de trabajo y actualización permanente de conocimientos y habilidades, además, por el hecho de estar en contacto directo con personas y tener el compromiso de evitar equivocaciones ocasionadas por el desconocimiento u omisión de responsabilidades, estos se vuelven más vulnerables a presentar niveles elevados de estrés, lo que concuerda con las investigacionesde Martínez, (2020) yJácome et al,(2020) , los cuales mediante sus estudios realizados en la Unión Europea, identificaron que el estrés laboral en sus encuestados es del 30% y25%, respectivamente.En los últimos años, se ha hecho mucho más visible el malestar emocional por el que se enfrentan médicos y enfermeras, a causa de horarios exigentes, ambiente laboral poco amigable, maltrato por parte de directivos, pacientes o familiares y sentimientos de ser responsables por la vida de los pacientes(Gómez & Álvarez, 2021; Suarez et al, 2020;Martin et al,2022). Este hecho ha llevado a Mejía et al, (2019), a realizar un estudio en países de Latinoamérica en donde se pudo identificar que en promedio el 42,5% presentan estrés laboral severo, además, evidenciaron que Venezuela es el país con más niveles de estrés severo con 63%, seguido de Panamá que oscila el 49%, Honduras 34%, 29 % para Perú y Colombia con 26%.En Ecuador, un estudio realizado en Riobamba afirma que los niveles de estrés en el personal médico y de enfermería, son elevados llegando a un 84,51%, siendo el personal de enfermería el cual presentó mayores niveles de estrés alcanzando el 97,50%(Lucero et al,2021).…”