Exploring the Determinants of Occupational Stress in Variable Hour Teaching Staff in the UK Higher Education Institution

Introduction

Work-related stress is perceived as one of the major health threats in the workplace. It is not all that easy to recognise but often viewed as a physiological and psychological reaction to the harmful aspects of workplace content (Kinman & Wray, 2014). Professionals use the term occupational stress to refer to what employees’ experience in the world of work. This could be a result of added responsibilities, working conditions, excessive pressure, and higher expectations. Panatik et al. (2012) highlight that occupation stress is considered as the origin of stress among members of staff. Studies by Newberry and Allsop (2017) opine that the academic world is one of the most stressful occupations. In their study, Kinman and Wray (2013) argue that a large proportion of academic and related staff in the UK find their work very stressful. Sun et al., (2011) state that most of the academic members of staff in China are stressed. Reddy and Poornima (2012) concur that high levels of stress were experienced by academics in China. According to Masuku and Muchemwa (2015), academicians in Nigeria have a high prevalence of stress. Hassard et al., (2018) highlight that occupational stress is a main problem in occupational health and it comes with a cost to members of staff themselves, employers, and government. In view of the Health and Safety Executive (2020), stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders account for most days lost due to work-related ill health, 17.9 million and 8.9 million respectively. On average, each employee suffering from occupational stress took around 17.6 days off work adding more pressure to other workers. In the US, over 550 million working days are lost every year because of stress (The American Institute of Stress, 2018). Occupational Health lessens the efficiency and creativity of academic members of staff, alongside its health, well-being, and morality (La Torre et al, 2018).

Mukosolu et al (2015) explain that occupations stress affects members of staff if the high demands of their job do not go hand in hand with a high degree of control over their work and participation in decision-making. Having little or no involvement in the mundane tasks, lack of autonomy, tight deadlines, and heavy workload are some of the major factors causing stress among academic staff. Mkumbo (2014) pinpoints that the individual with external locus of control is expected to encounter stress. Sun et al., (2011) add that the academic members of staff who have poor teacher-student relationships and poor relationships with fellow colleagues’ encounter stress. Although levels of stress vary from institution to institution, they give a picture of the condition of occupational stress amongst university academic members of staff. While global stress research is on the rise, the literature available is not thorough in addressing occupational stress among Variable Hour Teaching (VHT) staff in Higher Education Institutions. Presently evidence shows that education sector is one of the most stressful occupations and very little is done to address any perturbations and/or stressors. Hence, this chapter will provide the insights needed to deal with occupational stress in Higher Education Institutions.

Theoretical Perspectives

Work-related stress, depression or anxiety is defined as a harmful reaction people have to undue pressures and demands placed on them at work. It is a physiological and psychological reaction to the harmful aspects of workplace content (Fink, 2010). Working long hours, mostly between 50–55 hours each week (Court, 1996), and heavy workloads (Cross & Carroll, 1990; Daniels & Guppy, 1994) are usually reported by academic staff in both the United Kingdom (UK) and other universities outside the UK. Other factors that have been highlighted are excessive administrative work (Kinman, 1998), lack of promotion opportunities (Kinman, 1996); inadequate salaries (Daniels and Guppy, 1994); role ambiguity (Winter and Sarros, 2002), job insecurity; poor management; and lack of recognition and reward (Winefield et al., 2003 in Tytherleigh, Webb et al (2007). Work related stress is taken as the origin of stress among the workers, academics inclusive (Panatik, 2012). The personal and social issues of the people could be reasons behind stress at workplace (Haque, Nair and Kucukaltan, 2019).