Stress in Academia Faculty Members and Their Experiences of Stress

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Raghavan, Chemba

Keywords

Stress, Faculty, Social Psychology

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

This thesis examines the stress experiences of faculty members at a small, liberal arts college in South West Florida. In particular, it investigates their sources of stress, strategies for coping with that stress, and associations with stress in relation to participant gender, tenure status, and parental status. Sixteen faculty members participated from across all three academic divisions. Primary stressors included time constraints, work/family balance, high self-expectations, and work load. The principal coping strategy for all participants was seeking social support, although this score was fairly low. Primary associations with stress revolved around negative emotions and health effects, such as anxiety and insomnia. Differences within participant groups (that is, participant gender, tenure status, and parental status) were found for principal stressors but not for coping styles. Overall, participants reported high levels of stress and low, variable levels of coping.

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