Occupational stress in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges : exploring lecturers’ views

Abstract

Occupational stress has become a notorious challenge to all organisations. These organisations aim to maximise production. However, occupational stress among employees poses the biggest threat. Overhauling educational reforms and changes in the education sector may also contribute to the increased stress of TVET College lecturers. The fact that teaching is an incredibly stressful profession means that efforts to identify and manage stress in colleges are critical. This study explores lecturers’ views on stress management strategies as employees in their workplaces. This study follows an authoritative knowledge as its knowledge base. Books, research studies, experts and so on are regarded as sources of authoritarian knowledge. The researcher consulted credible literature sources (books and research studies) and experts (lecturers) to advance the study. The researcher used a quantitative research approach in this study. Quantitative approach involves the use of numbers or systematic statistical procedures to evaluate, prove and verify hypotheses. Non-experimental descriptive survey design with a single variable, namely the experiences or views of lecturers on occupational stress, was used in this study. 300 standardised online lecturer questionnaires were used to solicit enhanced data. The study found that there is a high prevalence of occupational stress among TVET college lecturers. Respondents rate occupational stress management strategies poorly. Key findings support the view that the current occupational stress management strategies are ineffective. The majority of the respondents indicated that they are not satisfied with their career as a lecturer being one of the major stressors. Another major factor is extra work and responsibilities. Considering the findings of this study, awareness of occupational stress information must be shared through workshops and training. The researcher will lobby or spearhead policies and practices in this regard. The study goes a long way in information sharing and should be made available to all lecturers to save as a resource. The study recommends structures to deal with instances of occupational stress in colleges, employment of occupational stress specialists with cases of occupational stress among lecturers and other employees and inclusion of stress copying strategies in various teaching qualifications curricula. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) must improve working conditions of lecturers in TVET colleges to enhance their levels of job satisfaction. In conclusion, a quantitative approach was used to explore lecturers’ views on occupational stress management strategies as they are used in their workplaces. The null hypothesis was evaluated against the findings of the study. The findings indicated aspects like prevalence, major stressors and effectiveness of stress management strategies. Recommendations based on the findings were also indicated.