Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Work Stress in Academia in Tanzania
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Date
2013-09-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Higher Education
Abstract
Work stress has been identified as a common phenomenon in the teaching profession. However, little research has
been done to examine the prevalence of and factors associated with work stress among employees in university
context in Tanzania and sub-Saharan African countries in general. Using survey design within the quantitative
approach, this study investigated the prevalence of and factors causing work stress among academic staff in public
and private universities. The results show that a significant proportion of academic staff reported experiencing high
stress, with respondents in public universities reporting being more stressed than their counterparts in private
universities. Three factors have been identified as particularly associated with work stress among academic staff.
These are lack of staff involvement in institutional reform processes, lack of necessary support systems related to
their work and high workload levels. Highly qualified and experienced staff reported lower levels of stress than staff
with low qualifications and less experienced. These results indicate that work stress is a common phenomenon
among institutions of higher education with its associated consequences such low job satisfaction, which is likely to
affect staff’s productivity.
Description
Full text available at http://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/ijhe/article/view/3271/1978
Keywords
Academia, Physiological stress, Psychological stress, Private university, Public university, Tanzania
Citation
Mkumbo, K.A.K. (2013). Prevalence of and factors associated with work stress in academia in Tanzania. International Journal of Higher Education, pre-published, September 12, 2013. doi: 10.5430/ijhe.v3n1p1