Investigate Teachers’ Job Stressors And Levels Of Job Satisfaction In Undergrad Program During Covid-19

Stressors are experienced by employees in every type of job and can be either internal or external. Stressors have a direct relationship with job satisfaction. Teaching is one of the noblest and most important professions in the world. There is a need for stress-free teachers at all levels of education, from primary to higher education. Teachers’ job satisfaction also plays an important role in promoting positive teaching styles. Moreover, if stressors are left unchecked, they can have a profound effect on teachers’ performance, which may negatively affect students over time.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced educational institutions across the world to shut down at an unprecedented rate. Distance education remained the only available option under such circumstances, but it brought numerous challenges for teachers. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate, explore, and describe the problems faced by teachers during online teaching in the COVID-19 period. The objectives of the study were to identify different types of job stressors faced by bachelor’s-level teachers during online classes, investigate the level of teachers’ job satisfaction with different dimensions of their jobs, and evaluate teachers’ suggestions for coping with job stressors in order to increase job satisfaction during online classes.

For this purpose, both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used. The population of the study consisted of 70 teachers from bachelor’s-level institutes in Wah Cantt. A random sampling technique was used. Two questionnaires were used as research instruments. A five-point Likert scale was used in the quantitative questionnaire. The questions in the questionnaires were arranged under the themes of job stressors, job satisfaction, and suggestions. Data were collected through a virtual platform using Google Forms. The mean was calculated for quantitative data analysis, while thematic analysis was conducted for qualitative data.

The results indicated that online teaching during COVID-19 created more job stressors than usual, which ultimately affected teachers’ job satisfaction negatively. Online teaching was found to be more time-consuming and labor-intensive than physical classes. Handling student misbehavior was more difficult, payments were reduced, and conducting online assessments emerged as a major challenge. Other challenges were mainly related to work overload, overtime, mismanagement, and job insecurity. It was suggested that the use of audiovisual aids, such as videos, recorded lectures, online viva examinations, and time-bound assessments, could be useful in any future pandemic-like situation. Zoom or Google Meet could be used for online classes, while Google Classroom could be used for grading students’ assessments.