Job Stress of Academia and its Effect on their Performance in Public Sector Universities Of Punjab

Abstract

The study aimed to examine the job stress of academia and its effects on their performance in public sector Universities of Punjab. The main objectives of the study were to identify the nature of job stress in academia, to analyze the factors responsible for job stress, and to explore relationship between job stress and performance. There were six research questions in this study: i) What are the major indicators of job stress in academia? ii) What are the major indicators of performance? iii).What is the nature of job stress in academia in public sector universities of Punjab? iv) What is the level of job stress in academia in Public sector universities? v) What is the relationship between job stress and demographic characteristics of academia? vi) What is the effect of job stress on the performance of academia in public sector universities? The study was initially planned in nine regions of Punjab namely Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sahiwal and Sargodha. One public sector university from each region with a large number of people was selected as population. Dera Ghazi Khan and Sahiwal regions were excluded from the study for having no public sector university. The seven universities representing each region were the population of the study. These universities were, University of Punjab from Lahore, Bahauddin Zakariya Univeristy from Multan, PMAS-Arid University from Rawalpindi, University of Sargodha form Sargodha, University of Gujrat from Gujrat, Islamia University from Bahawalpur and Government College University from Faisalabad. To conduct the study, stratified random sampling technique was used. Strata were made with respect to population of the university from each region. The sample size was determined by using criteria given in Johnson & Christensen (2000. p 178). Four groups of respondents were selected, that included academic heads of the universities (Dean, Chair), the academia, students and Vice Chancellors. A sample out of 373 academic heads, 434 academia, 1008 students and 7 Vice Chancellors were selected randomly from the population. Physical facilities for heads, academia and students were also verified with checklist. Review of available literature presented a detailed picture of earlier researches conducted on different aspects of job stress. After extensive literature review, the researcher developed a stress inventory for measuring stress of academia, accompanying views of various experts in the field of education. There was no inventory available for measurement of stress of academia working in universities. The researcher constructed three inventories for this purpose. There were sixteen indicators in each inventory with different sub questions. These indicators were social interaction at work, financial benefits, provision of privacy, communication channel at work, autonomy of work, quality of work, organizational behavior, flexibility of work, working condition, official furniture, equipments facility, space organization, personal space, individual control, information overload and energy drain. A semi structured interview technique was used to interview the Vice chancellors. A checklist was used to verify the physical facilities for academia and their heads. A collected data with the help of research tools from academia their heads and students were analyzed. Three statistical techniques (Univariate, Bivariate and Multivariate) were used for the analysis of data. In univariate analysis classification of data, percentage, mean and standard deviation were computed. In bivariate analysis, association between job stress, demographic variables and academia performance was observed with the help of ANOVA. The multivariate analysis was carried out by using all variables in the linear regression analysis. For this purpose, regression analysis was applied on two target groups namely head and academia. The analysis was made by using SPSS version 15. Results were based on quantitative data and were described in paragraphs. It was found from the results that autonomy of work, quality of work, flexibility of work, provision of privacy, communication channel at work, equipment facility and working environment were job stress indicators of the academia working in public sector universities. Further, demographic (gender, post, positions, qualification, experience, marital status, age) variables of academia and their heads working in public sector universities lead towards job stress. It was concluded from the results that academia job stress is multiple factors constructs, and these entire factors associated with each other’s. It was also found academia job stress negatively effect on their performance. It was recommended from results that university as an organization may conduct need assessment program for academia to explore the causes of their stress and dissatisfaction.