International Journal of Business

Management & Research (IJBMR)

ISSN (P): 2249-6920; ISSN (E): 2249-8036
Vol. 10, Issue 4, Aug 2020, 29–34
© TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AMONG FEMALE TEACHERS WORKING IN HIGHER

SECONDARY SCHOOLS, CHIDAMBARAM, TAMIL NADU
Dr. D. ELAMPARUTHI
Assistant Professor,Department of Business Administration,Annamalai University, India
ABSTRACT

In today's world of rapid industrialisation and increasing urbanization, "Occupational Stress" is an inevitable
phenomenon in human life. It is a psychophysical disorder that affects the efficiency, effectiveness, personal health and
job quality of an individual. Teacher stress is a particular form of work-related stress. Through this mod, teaching
career can be recognized as a stressful occupation in this challenging modern world that can adversely affect teachers'
health, which in turn affects the students and the learning environment. In this regard, female school teachers were
typically faced with a lot of occupational stress, particularly by the married female teachers, as they have to play
multiple roles at home and at school. In this paper, attempts were made to identify the principal Causes of occupational
stress among high school female teachers, and ways to avoid and reduce it.

KEYWORDS: Occupational stress, Female teacher&Higher secondary school

Original Article
Received: Aug 06, 2020; Accepted: Aug 26, 2020; Published: Sep 09, 2020; Paper Id.: IJBMRAUG20204

INTRODUCTION
An uncomfortable psychophysical disorder, "OCCUPATIONAL STRESS" is a common feature of this modern
world where a person fails to cope with the stresses in his / her work. It has an effect on the workers' personal health
and work performance. Occupational stress can be seen in various fields of work. In the last few years,the teaching
profession has become more challenging worldwide, particularly at the secondary level where the students reach the
adolescent stage and as such, the stress among the teachers has developed very rapidly. Various factors are
correlated with the job stress of teachers, such as increased workload, low salary, lack of facilities, large size of the
class,Lack of career development programs, student behaviour training etc.Most frequently, the level of
occupational stress of female teachers, particularly among married female teachers, is higher than their male peers
because the former have to play multiple roles at home and at school. They have to do the daughter-in - law, wife,
mother, sister- in-law etc.At the same time, they must play the role of a good sensitive teacher in the schools, while
educating their students. It is something that is very normal, that they were confronted with occupational stress,
which adversely affects both the teacher and the teacher. In this regard, attempts to minimize and prevent the main
causes of occupational stress among the teachers are therefore very important for the enviable outcomes in the
method of education.

An occupational stress is any force that pushes behind its range of stability a psychological or physical component,
creating a strain within the person. Stress in teaching is a continuing concern issue for those involved in education. Teacher
stress is characterized as experiences of unpleasant, negative emotions such as rage, frustration, anxiety, depression and
nervousness in teachers; depression and nervousness, resulting from some aspect of their work as teachers (Kyriacou, 2001).

Beehr and Newman (1978) Working in organisations not only offers life sustaining income to individuals
but also places its own burden on them. Ultimately, this can have negative consequences for both achieving the
organizational goals and meeting the needs of the individuals working within them.Therefore, the work

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30 Dr. D. Elamparuthi

environment is a source of social and psychological stress that has adverse effects on employee well-being. Especially
stress in general and occupational stress is universal and often disabling human phenomenon. Work-related stress has a
negative effect on people’s behaviour, resulting in personal and organizational inefficiency eventually. Occupational stress
can be defined as a situation in which occupational factors interfere with the worker in order to alter (disrupt / enhance) his
or her psychological or physiological state, so that the mind and/or body of the employee is forced to deviate from his or
her usual way of working.

Mathew (1993) Stress has a complex definition for the workplace. The stress of missing the delivery date of a big
order for a major customer may be to the production manager in a chemical plant. There may be disappointment to the
business executive associated with the inability to obtain appropriate short-term loans from banks to meet operating needs,
and so on. For Szilagyi’s terms and Wallace, stress is an internal phenomenon that causes a psychological or physiological
imbalance within a person and results from social, organizational or individual factors.

Sargent and Hannum (2005) Studying Teachers’ Job Satisfaction among That comparative study of primary
school teachers in rural North-West China highlights a detailed analysis on teacher work satisfaction in rural North-West
China with regard to community factors, school climate factors and teacher characteristics. Our results were generally in
line with previous research, but according to our expectations, teachers with higher workloads were more pleased.
Therefore, further economic growth has been negatively related to teacher satisfaction

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Davis and Newstrom (1985) Stress is a state of pressure on the thought processes of one's emotions, and physical fitness.
When it is intense, it may affect one's ability to deal with the situation, the general term 'stress' is applied to the stresses that
people experience in life. Employees experience various stress symptoms as a result of these stresses, which can affect
their job performance. Stressed people may become anxious and develop chronic worries. They are quickly provoked to
rage, and cannot relax. We can be overly uncooperative or be using alcohol or narcotics. Both disorders often arise from
other causes, but are raising stress symptoms.

Reddy and Ramamurthi (1991) In their research 'The Relationship between Stress Experience on Job Age,
Personality and General Skills,' they examined the impact of the individual's age, temperament and general capacity to
handle stress. This was found that the experience of stress was affected by only age. There was only a very small
contribution of the individual's temperament and general potential to the strength of the individual's stress experience.

Rajeswari (1992) in her 'Employee Stress: A Reference Guide for Bank Employees' report;

There was a significant negative relationship between age and stress, as well as between experience and stress.
Even this study found negative association between number of family members and stress. Among various types of staff,
namely officers and clerks, the level of stress was no various.

D’Souza (1993) the leaders of today not only live and work at a quicker pace, they still have to deal with it
Because of confusion and with shifting. They need effective methods to cope with the sort of stress that affects everyone in
positions of leadership. People popularly identify managers or chief executives as the ones most susceptible to stress and
illness. People at all management levels, however, do find themselves.

Singh and Sehgal (1995) intheir own study on 'Men and Women in process of change: Patterns of Stress Strain

Impact Factor (JCC): 8.9193 NAAS Rating: 3.43

Occupational Stress among Female Teachers Working in Higher Secondary Schools, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu 31

and Social Relationships' the patterns of stress and stress among men and women as well as single- and dual-career couples
are highlighted. They found that there was no major difference between male and female managers on the various stress
dimensions. In strains, however, gender inequality was observed. Women were characterized by anxiety,though men
displayed more signs of somatic problems as compared to single and dual couples. Male managers with working spouses
were found to have a higher workload than managers whose spouses were not working. Single career managers often
showed less irritability than dual career managers, and overall single career managers showed greater psychological well-
being than single career managers than others. Working woman administrators had greater physical well-being but had
worse psychological well-being than their working husband did.

Lewis (1999) in his research on 'Teachers Coping with the Pressure of Classroom Discipline' he explored that the stress
levels of teachers derive from being unable to discipline pupils in the way they do. Teachers should plan overall discipline
maintenance; it emerged as a stressor for those worst-affected teachers who put special emphasis on empowerment of the pupils.

Shah (2003) In his research on 'Work Stress in Indian Industry: A Research of Banking Organizations' he provides
an adequate description of stress and its existence, dimensions, triggers, manifestations and strategies to cope. It has been
found that most workers experience average high stress levels at work. Stagnation of roles, inadequacy of the task authority
and degradation of roles are comparatively small dimensions of job stress. The research further shows that comparatively
more tension on most dimensions is faced by workers belonging to the clerical cadre.

Berhemet al. (2004) define the role of uncertainty as the key cause of work stress and self-knowledge in their
research on 'A New Framework for Work Stress Patterns' as the key coping mechanism for managing work stress. It is
assumed that job stress is one of the most significant factors influencing efficiency.

Kang (2005) In his thesis on 'Stressors between Medical Representatives: An Empirical Analysis' he tries to
examine the different stressors relevant to the medical representative’s work. For the purpose of this analysis, a survey was
taken of 140 physician members. The findings showed job intervention in personal life; unsupportive co-workers,
workload and constant demand for performance enhancement were found to cause tension among medical representatives.

Dhanalakshmi(2008) in her research ‘Factors Predicting Stress of Employees of a Public Transport Company’,
she tests the stress rates of employees of the transportation company and also examines variables that may forecast stress.
The workers are observed to endure mild stress levels. Further, work climate,health and protection forecast tension.

METHODOLOGY
Objectives of theStudy

• Toidentifytheoccupationalstressamongthe female highersecondary schoolteachers.

• To find out the different stress management activities for reducing the occupationalstressamongthefemale
highersecondary schoolteachers.
POPULATION AND SAMPLE
The present sample population comprises 15 higher secondary schools in Chidambaram Town including both government and
private schools. For this present analysis, 50 female teachers were randomly taken as samples. A self-structured questionnaire and
interview was used to gather information from the female teachers who are used as tests for data collection.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

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32 Dr. D. Elamparuthi

Table1: Different responses of the female higher secondary school teachers regarding the occupational stress
in theirprofession
Teachers' Responses’ Regarding The Main Causes of No. of the
% of the Respondents
Occupational Stress Respondents
Heavy work load 22 44
Large class size 46 92
Inadequate salary 33 66
Lack of inner satisfaction 33 66
Lack of sufficient teaching aids 22 44
Time limit to cover the syllabus is not enough 39 78
Problem in managing students' behaviour 42 84
Lack of healthy interaction among the staff members 40 80
Interference of family member into career 18 36
Lack of opportunities for professional enhancement 44 88
Financial problem at home 28 56
Lack of support from family members in doing house-hold chores 25 50

From table-1, the female higher secondary school teachers it is seen that they suffer from the problem of occupational
stress due to various reasons such as

• 44% of higher secondaryschoolteachers feel heavy work load and lackofproperteachingaids

• 92%of higher secondaryschoolteachers large class size.
• 66%of higher secondaryschoolteachers responds inadequate salary and lackofinnersatisfaction
• 84%of higher secondaryschoolteachers facing probleminmanagingstudentsbehaviour
• 88% of higher secondaryschoolteachers feels lackofopportunitiesforprofessional enhancement
• 80%of higher secondaryschoolteachers responds lack of healthy interaction among staffmembers and shortage of
time limit to cover the syllabus
• 50% of higher secondaryschoolteachers responds lack of family support in doing household chores
• 56%of higher secondary school teachers facing financial problems at home
• 36% of higher secondary school teachers says family interference in career
Table 2:Different Stress Management Activities as responded by the Female Higher Secondary School Teachers
Different stress management activities No. Positive % of positive
as responded by the teacher responses responses
Listening to music 48 96
Watching TV 45 90
Talking with friends 35 70
Sleeping 48 96
Travelling to places of natural beauty08 29 58
Shopping 22 44
From table2
• 96% of higher secondary school teachers sleeping for getting relieve from the occupational stress
• 90% of higher secondaryschoolteachers watch television
• 96% of higher secondaryschoolteachers listening music as stress managementactivities
• 70%of higher secondaryschoolteachers talkwithfriends
• 58% of higher secondaryschoolteachersdoingshopping
• 44% of higher secondaryschoolteachers taketravellingasstressmanagementactivities.
FINDINGS OF THESTUDY
• It is found that all the selected female of higher secondaryschoolteachers have reported that they have faced the
problem of occupational stressin performingtheir duties due todifferent reasons.Teachers have also given their
views regarding different stressmanagementactivities, wh i c h areappliedbythemasfollowing.The main causes of
occupational stress, as mentioned by the female teachers,arelarge size of class (93.33%) and (90%) of use
watchingtelevision and sleeping for getting relief from the occupational stress.
• The higher secondaryschoolteachers have Problem in managingstudents' behaviour (84%) and Lack of
opportunities forprofessional enhancement is (88%)

Impact Factor (JCC): 8.9193 NAAS Rating: 3.43

Occupational Stress among Female Teachers Working in Higher Secondary Schools, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu 33

• The higher secondaryschoolteachers have Lack of healthy interaction among staffs and shortage of time to cover
the syllabus (78%) and Familyinterferenceintotheircareer (36%)
• The higher secondaryschoolteachers have facing inadequatesalaryand Lack of innersatisfaction is (66%)
• The higher secondaryschoolteachers have responds Lackofproperteachingaids is (44%)
• The higher secondaryschoolteachers have feel Heavy workload(44%) and lack of familysupport in doing
household chores (50%)
• The higher secondaryschoolteachers have facingFinancialproblemathome is(56%).
• The higher secondaryschool female teachers listening to music is (96 %) and Talking withfriends (70 %)
• The higher secondaryschoolteachers have going for Shopping(58 %) and Travelling to places ofnatural beauty
(44%)
CONCLUSIONS
It can be inferred from the present research that the career of higher secondary school teaching has become very difficult,
as teachers have faced several kinds of problems when teaching the students as a result of which their level of occupational
stress continues to increase. Occupational tension has become an inevitable part of teaching.In one way or the other, a
teacher is the target of the more prevalent workplace tension among the married female teachers. In this sense, the
following recommendations can be brought forward to some degree to reduce the workplace stress issue among female
high school teachers.

• Schools will provide teachers with job security.

• Organizing activities and building an organizational environment to improve teachers and authorities'
engagement.
• The student teacher ratio should be limited in the classroom
• It is important to implement counselling and stress reduction services in classrooms.
• Recruiting of additional teachers to reduce the workload teachers.
• The administration of public and private high schools should collectively arrange personality enhancement
classes, yoga workshops and refresher courses for teachers to improve their personality qualities and alleviate job
tension.
• The married female teachers would be supported with family support. Husbands should be more active in helping
hand their wives in this way.
• The administration of public and private high schools should collectively arrange personality enhancement
classes, yoga workshops and refresher courses for teachers to improve their personality qualities and alleviate job
tension.
• The married female teachers would be supported with family support. Husbands should be more active in helping
hand their wives in this way.
• The government will provide resources to develop teaching aids so that students can be encouraged to attend
classes without disruption and teachers' stress rates can be minimized.
• The department of education will change the syllabus layout to allow teachers to complete the courses within a
specified time period.
• The pay of private school teachers will be raised according to their credentials, expertise and teaching skills.
Thus, the level of occupational stress can be managed to a large degree by being conscious of the key causes of
occupational stress and by correctly applying the stress reducing techniques. State, school administrators and even
members of the family play a significant role in this regard. Reducing tension among teachers helps to create a pleasurable
educational experience for all and also helps to promote the development of the nation by cultivating the future generation
as both economic and social assets.

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Impact Factor (JCC): 8.9193 NAAS Rating: 3.43