Stress, Gender and Coping Strategies among Secondary School Teachers in Kampala District

Abstract

Purpose: The study aimed at assessing the sources of stress among male and female teachers, coping strategies adopted by the teachers and the effects of stress on the job performance of teachers. 
 Methodology: The study adopted a survey design with both quantitative and qualitative methods. The study was conducted among secondary school teachers who were picked from both private and government aided schools in Nakawa Division, Kampala District. The sample consisted of 100 teachers who were selected through stratified random sampling that comprised of 50 male and 50 female teachers. Stress among teachers was assessed using a stress scale questionnaire and the coping strategies were assessed using the coping questionnaire developed by Folkman and Lazarus (1988) and open ended questionnaire was used to assess the effects of stress on the performance of teachers. Quantitative data was coded on themes derived from the objectives of the study. Quantitative data was analyzed using factor analysis, t-test and correlation analysis. 
 Findings: The major sources of stress in terms of factors were work-oriented, personal failure factors and poor working habits factors. In case of coping strategies for social support seeking coping strategy, the main strategy used was “accepted since nothing could be done” and e least used was “avoided stressful work”. Emotional focused coping strategy had “prayed or got involved in other spiritual activities” as main strategy used while “I brought the risk to myself” was the least used strategy. And “kept myself from thinking too much about stress” was main strategy used while “gone on as if nothing had happened” was least used by the teachers in coping with stress. There was a negative relationship between all the three factors of stress indicating that whenever one was stressed, then their performance was negatively affected.

Work-related stress, quality of life, and coping mechanism among lecturers in a Tertiary Educational Institution in Anambra State, Nigeria

“…This is in agreement with a previous finding that lecturers who have practiced for 15 years and above have adopted adequate coping strategies over the years to deal with stress [25]. Lecturers who are more advanced in age tend to develop means of coping with the realities of the job in contrast to younger lecturers, and with increased years of practice grow the ability to cope with the presenting workload, job satisfaction, financial remunerations, and family issues [25]. We also speculate that because the promotion of lecturers in Nigeria's educational system draws a greater percentage of points from the literary output, like the publication of research in scientific journals, younger lecturers are also laden with the issue of article publications to earn promotion, hence whittling their coping capacity.…”

“…This study revealed that the sex of lecturers affected their ability to adjust and adapt to their work demands. This finding was supported by the report of a previous study that male lecturers used less social coping than females and there is a significant difference in the coping to stress between male and female lecturers [25]. Also, our finding is in alignment with work done by Graves et al [26] and Kalu et al [27] that agreed on a difference in coping strategies between males and females in the workplace.…”

“…We tend to agree with this finding because we believe that the ability of an individual to adopt a favorable coping strategy might rely on experiences gathered over the years, thus aiding in acquainting one on what to expect on the job and reducing elements of unforeseen, which contributes to stress and coping. This is in agreement with a previous finding that lecturers who have practiced for 15 years and above have adopted adequate coping strategies over the years to deal with stress [25]. Lecturers who are more advanced in age tend to develop means of coping with the realities of the job in contrast to younger lecturers, and with increased years of practice grow the ability to cope with the presenting workload, job satisfaction, financial remunerations, and family issues [25].…”

“…Interestingly, this agrees with the finding of previous studies that reported differences in the stress outcome of lecturers who have spent long years and those who have spent lesser years [38][39][40][41][42]. Also, the finding of another study reported that the level of stress among experienced and inexperienced lecturers was significant because the stress was less experienced by those who have practiced for a longer time as they have adopted adequate coping strategies over the years to deal with the stress [25]. Therefore, it may be assumed that older people because of their work experience may have gotten more experience and a better strategy to cope with the intricacies of doing their daily routine.…”