Article

Comparative Study of Organizational Role Stress Among Technical and Nontechnical Teachers

- - Sandhya Mehta,
Assistant Professor,
Guru Nanak Institute of Management & Technology,
Ludhiana.
E-mail: mehta_sandhya@yahoo.com

- - Sandeep Kaur,
Senior Lecturer,
Guru Nanak Institute of Management & Technology,
Ludhiana.
E-mail: saimbhi.jasnoor@rediffmail.com

Educational researchers have long been concerned with role stress among teachers. The concept of role and its two related aspects, role space and role set, have built-in potential for conflict and stress. Comparative study of Organizational Role Stress (ORS) among technical and nontechnical teachers was carried out in Ludhiana, using ORS Scale. The study revealed that Resource Inadequacy was higher for technical teachers as compared to nontechnical teachers for the whole sample and for the lower age group (< 30 years). For the higher age group (> 30 years), Personal Inadequacy and Role Ambiguity were higher for technical teachers as compared to nontechnical teachers.

Introduction

Stress has become the most important factor influencing individual efficacy and satisfaction in modern day occupational settings. Once stress exceeds a certain limit, it can cause burnout and detrimentally affect work performance. In this context, the teaching profession is increasingly characterized by occupational stress. Educational researchers have long been concerned with role stress among teachers. This study aims at how role stress operates on technical and nontechnical teachers. They were administered Organizational Role Stress (ORS) Scale developed by Pareek (2002, pp. 545-547) to measure 10 types of role stress experienced by them.

A number of studies on ORS have been conducted in educational settings (Conley and Woosley, 2000; Jesus and Conboy, 2001; Pestonjee and Azeem, 2001; and Antoniou et al., 2006). Mohan and Chauhan (1999) in a comparative study of 200 managers of government, public and private sectors, found that the managers of public sector experienced maximum Role Erosion and Self-Role Conflict, followed by government and private sector. The private sector seems to have better work climate, which is giving enough forward orientation in one's job role and fewer intra-personal conflicts. This can have implications for improvement of work climate in public sector. Female teachers experienced significantly higher levels of occupational stress, specifically with regard to interaction with students and colleagues, workload, students' progress and emotional exhaustion. Younger teachers experienced higher levels of burnout, specifically in terms of emotional exhaustion and disengagement from the profession, while older teachers experienced higher levels of stress in terms of the support they feel they receive from the government (Antoniou et al., 2006).

As organizations become more complex, the potentiality for stress increases. Stress is a consequence of socioeconomic complexity and to some extent is a stimulant as well. Therefore, one should find ways of using stress productively and reduce dysfunctional stress. The term `stress' will be used here to refer to such terms and concepts as strain and pressure. The concept of role and its two related aspects, role space and role set, have a built-in potential for conflict and stress.

Objective of the Study

The objective of the present study is to understand the differences in ORS experienced by teachers in technical and nontechnical institutes in Ludhiana district. In addition to the comparison in the whole sample, a comparative analysis has been done among teachers of technical and nontechnical institutes having age above (>) 30 and below (<) 30.

Methodology

The primary data was collected using cluster sampling technique on a sample size of 200, comprising 100 from technical and 100 from nontechnical institutes. The sample comprised 50 respondents < 30 years and 50 respondents > 30 years under each category (i.e., technical and nontechnical). Organizational Role Stress Scale was administered to measure the 10 role stressors. Z-test was carried out to find out the significant differences for each role stressor between the two categories, for the whole sample, and for the lower and higher age groups.

Organizational Role Stress Scale

It is a five point scale indicating how true a particular statement is for the role occupant. The respondent is asked to assign `0' to a statement if he never or scarcely feels that way, `1' to a statement if he occasionally feels that way, and `4' if he very frequently feels that way. Hence the score of each role stress may range between 0 and 20, and the total ORS score may vary between 0 to 200. The ratings of the respondents on specified five items as given row-wise in the answer sheet, are added to obtain scores for the 10 role stress dimensions, which can be classified under two different categories as described below:

Role Space Conflicts

Role space has three main variables: the self, the role under question, and the other roles one occupies. Any conflict among these is referred to as role space conflict. These conflicts may take one of the following forms:

Inter-Role Distance (lRD):

It is experienced when there is a conflict between organizational and non-organizational roles. For example, the role of executive vs. the role of a husband/wife.

Role Stagnation (RS)

It's the feeling of being stuck in the same role. Such a type of stress results in perception that there is no opportunity for the future progress of one's career.

Self-Role Distance (SRD)

When the role a person occupies goes against his/her self-concept, then he/she feels self-role distance type of stress. This is essentially a conflict arising out of a mismatch between the person and his/her job.

Role Set Conflicts

Role set comprises roles in the organization with whom the focal role interacts for his/her role performance. Any conflict among different roles in the role set is referred to as role set conflict. These conflicts may take one of the following forms:

Role Ambiguity (RA)

It refers to lack of clarity about expectations from the focal role. They may arise from lack of information or understanding in relation to activities, responsibilities, personal styles or norms.

Role Expectation Conflict (REC)

This type of stress is generated by conflicting expectations from the focal role held by different significant persons (i.e., superiors, subordinates or peers).

Role Overload (RO)

When the role occupant feels that there are too many or too high expectations from his role, he/she experiences role overload. There are two aspects of this stress: quantitative and qualitative. The former refers to having too much to do, while the latter refers to things being too difficult.

Role Erosion (RE)

This type of role stress is the function of the role occupant's feeling that some functions which should belong to his/her role are transferred to/or performed by some other role. This can also happen when the role occupant performs the functions, but the credit goes to someone else. Another manifestation is in the form of underutilization in the role.

Resource Inadequacy (RIN)

This type of stress is evident when the role occupant feels that he/she is not provided with adequate resources for performing the functions expected from his/her role.

Personal Inadequacy (PI)

It arises when the role occupant feels that he/she does not have the necessary skills and training for effectively performing the functions expected from his/her role. This is bound to happen when the organization does not impart periodic training to enable the employees to cope with the fast changes both within and outside the organization.

Role Isolation (RI)

Role isolation is characterized by the feelings that others do not reach out easily, indicative of the absence of strong linkages of one's role with other roles. This can be geographic or systemic.

Analysis and Interpretation

Mean, Median, Standard Deviation, of the scores on ORS scale were calculated to verify the normality of the data. Later Z-test was applied to test the significance of difference in the mean scores of various groups and subgroups.

Results

Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for ORS dimensions. It is evident from Table 2 that the dimensions such as Inter-Role Distance, Role Stagnation, Role Expectation Conflict, Role Erosion, Role Overload, Role Isolation, Personal Inadequacy, Self-Role Distance, and Role Ambiguity are similar in both the categories (i.e., technical and nontechnical teachers). There is a significant difference, however, for Resource Inadequacy which is stronger for technical teachers. This is natural as technical teachers need comparatively higher resources.



From Table 3 it is clear that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of the teachers in technical and nontechnical institutes having age < 30 in 9 ORS dimensions (Inter-Role Distance, Role Stagnation, Role Expectation Conflict, Role Erosion, Role Overload, Role Isolation, Personal Inadequacy, Self-Role Distance and Role Ambiguity). There is a significant difference in Role Inadequacy between technical and nontechnical teachers having age < 30 years, technical teachers experiencing comparatively higher stress on this dimension.





It is evident from Table 4 that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of the teachers in technical and nontechnical institutes having age > 30 for 8 ORS dimensions (Inter-Role Distance, Role Stagnation, Role Expectation Conflict, Role Erosion, Role Overload, Role Isolation, Self-Role Distance and Resource Inadequacy). There are significant differences in Personal Inadequacy and Role Ambiguity between technical and nontechnical teachers having age > 30 years, both being higher for technical teachers.

Conclusion

The technical teachers do not differ from nontechnical teachers in terms of their Inter-Role Distance, Role Stagnation, Role Expectation Conflict, Role Erosion, Role Overload, Role Isolation, Personal Inadequacy, Self-Role Distance and Role Ambiguity in the whole sample and in the age group < 30 years. Resource Inadequacy is stronger for technical teachers in the whole sample and in the age group < 30 years.

For the age group > 30 years, technical teachers do not differ from nontechnical teachers in terms of their Inter-Role Distance, Role Stagnation, Role Expectation Conflict, Role Erosion, Role Overload, Role Isolation, Self-Role Distance and Resource Inadequacy. Personal Inadequacy and Role Ambiguity are stronger for technical teachers in the age group > 30 years.

Suggestions

The overall scores indicate that the technical teachers experience more Resource Inadequacy in comparison to nontechnical teachers. In the case of technical education, resources like computer lab, internet facility, LCD Projector, interactive board, etc., are essential. Therefore, the authorities should ensure that proper resources in terms of infrastructure and various facilities are provided to the teachers.

In case of teachers < 30 years of age, more Resource Inadequacy is evident from the obtained results. This may be due to uneven distribution of resources which needs to be corrected.

There is stronger Personal Inadequacy in case of technical teachers > 30 years of age. This calls for regular training and development of those teachers.

High Role Ambiguity in technical teachers > 30 years of age, maybe due to the fact that as teachers mature in their roles, they may be assigned more responsibility in developmental and administrative activities. Their roles and responsibilities need to be clearly defined.