Ana Slišković

Work Stress Among University Teachers: Gender and Position Differences

Work Stress Among University Teachers: Gender and Position Differences The aim of this study was to investigate exposure to stress at work in university teachers and see if there were differences between men and women as well as between positions. The study was carried out online and included a representative sample of 1,168 teachers employed at universities in Croatia. This included all teaching positions: assistants (50 %), assistant professors (18 %), associate professors (17 %), and full professors (15 %). Fifty-seven percent of the sample were women. The participants answered a questionnaire of our own design that measured six groups of stressors: workload, material and technical conditions at work, relationships with colleagues at work, work with students, work organisation, and social recognition and status. Women reported greater stress than men. Assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors reported greater stress related to material and technical conditions of work and work organisation than assistants, who, in turn, found relationships with colleagues a greater stressor. Full professors, reported lower exposure to stress at work than associate professors, assistant professors, and assistants. Stres u radu sveučilišnih nastavnika: rodne i pozicijske razlike Cilj rada bio je istražiti izloženost sveučilišnih nastavnika stresu u radu i ispitati postoje li razlike između muškaraca i žena te zaposlenika na različitim pozicijama u stupnju izloženosti i prirodi radnih stresora. Istraživanje je metodom on-line ankete provedeno na reprezentativnom uzorku od 1168 nastavnika zaposlenih na sveučilištima u Hrvatskoj. Obuhvaćene su bile sve znanstveno-nastavne pozicije: asistenti (51 %), docenti (19 %), izvanredni profesori (15 %) i redoviti profesori (15 %). 57 % uzorka činile su žene. Primijenjen je Upitnik izloženosti stresu u radu za sveučilišne nastavnike (ISR-SN) koji sadržava 37 čestica i mjeri šest latentnih dimenzija izvora stresa: radno opterećenje, materijalne/tehničke uvjete rada, odnose na poslu, studente, organizaciju rada i društvene uvjete rada. Žene u odnosu prema muškarcima u prosjeku izvještavaju o većoj prisutnosti izvora stresa u svom poslu. Docenti, izvanredni i redoviti profesori u prosjeku procjenjuju veću prisutnost stresora vezanih uz materijalne/tehničke uvjete rada i organizaciju rada u odnosu na asistente koji, pak, u većoj mjeri procjenjuju prisutnost stresora vezanih uz međuljudske odnose. Redoviti profesori u prosjeku izvještavaju o manjoj izloženosti stresorima u svom poslu od izvanrednih profesora, docenata i asistenata.

A mixed-method approach to the assessment of teachers’ emotions: development and validation of the Teacher Emotion Questionnaire

Abstract Existing research indicates that emotions are integral components of teachers’ jobs and lives, but knowledge regarding functional relations between teachers’ emotions, their antecedents and their effects on teachers, teaching and students is still quite scarce. One possible reason for this knowledge gap is the lack of adequate operationalisation of the teacher-emotion construct. Thus, the aim of this research was to develop a psychometrically grounded and contextually specific multidimensional self-report instrument aimed at assessing the specific emotions teachers experience in relation to their work and profession. Based on the contemporary component definition of emotion, and using a mixed-method approach (qualitative and quantitative), through a series of five empirical studies (N1 = 25, N2 = 300, N3 = 315, N4 = 391 and N5 = 1314), the Teacher Emotion Questionnaire (TEQ) has been developed. The instrument contains scales assessing emotions of joy, pride, love, fatigue, anger and hopelessness. All scales have adequate psychometric characteristics and are theoretically meaningfully related to the criterion variables examined. Added value of the TEQ scales over the more general measures of affect is also demonstrated.

Descriptive study of job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction in a sample of Croatian seafarers.

BACKGROUND Given the general lack of studies on well-being in Croatian seafarers, the aim of this study was to determine the level and sources of their job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS This descriptive study was conducted on a sample of Croatian seafarers (n = 530), employed in various functions on cargo ships. Using an online survey, we examined overall job satisfaction, and satisfaction with some specific aspects of work. Participants additionally responded to two open questions relating to the sources of their job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction, and these data were analysed using a qualitative approach. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The results showed a moderate level of overall job satisfaction, while analysis of the 10 specific facets indicated that the participants are, on average, most satisfied with payment, and least satisfied with the achieved benefits and work organisation on board. The results of the qualitative analysis showed that among the main sources of job satisfaction are: financial stability and security, the ratio of work days to days off, and the quality of days off, and the nature and dynamics of the work. On the other hand, sources of dissatisfaction relate primarily to: separation from home and family, the status of Croatian seafarers in the Republic of Croatia, and working and living conditions on board.

Problemi rada u smjenama

U radu se raspravlja o negativnim utjecajima smjenskog rada koji su klasifi cirani u četiri kategorije učinaka: na biološke funkcije, radnu efi kasnost, društvene / obiteljske aspekte života te na zdravlje. Dan je sustavni pregled dosadašnjih istraživanja zdravstvenih problema smjenskih radnika u čijoj je osnovi narušavanje cirkadijurnih ritmova organizma koju nameće smjenski / noćni rad. Zdravstveni problemi koji se dovode u vezu sa smjenskim radom su ovi: problemi sa spavanjem, gastrointestinalne i kardiovaskularne bolesti, karcinom, problemi s reproduktivnim funkcijama žena te lošije psihičko zdravlje. U radu se također raspravlja o toleranciji smjenskog rada. Pri tome je kao teoretski okvir povezanosti smjenskog rada i negativnih zdravstvenih posljedica rabljen procesni model koji su postavili Smith i suradnici 1999. Poseban naglasak stavljen je na individualne i organizacijske faktore o kojima ovisi mogućnost prilagodbe na smjenski rad te tolerancija takvog rada. Značajni prediktori tolerancije smjenskog rada su: dob, spol, jutarnjost-večernjost, rigidnost-fl eksibilnost u navikama spavanja, obiteljska situacija, higijena spavanja te zdrava prehrana. S obzirom na rezultate istraživanja koji upućuju na povezanost nekih karakteristika organizacije smjenskog rada s tolerancijom prema smjenskom radu, kao što su: broj radnih smjena i trajanje smjene, broj sukcesivnih noćnih smjena, regularnost smjena, brzina i smjer rotacije smjena, preporučene su intervencijske strategije u organizaciji smjenskog rada.

Lifestyle factors in Croatian seafarers as relating to health and stress on board

BACKGROUND Seafaring is characterized by specific stressors and health risks. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article was to compare the prevalence of various lifestyle factors between the shipping and home environments, and in addition to test the relations between lifestyle factors, perceived stress on board, and health in seafarers. METHODS A total of 530 Croatian seafarers participated in an on-line survey. The questionnaire contained requests for demographic data and a set of questions relating to lifestyle, stress on board, physical health symptoms, and mental health. RESULTS The data showed higher sleep deprivation, higher levels of smoking and unhealthier diet at sea than at home, with prevalence of alcohol consumption and physical exercise being more favourable for the shipping environment. Sleep deprivation, unhealthy diet, lack of physical exercise, and smoking are shown as negative correlates of various measures of health. Stress on board was associated with sleep deprivation and unhealthy diet, and with more unfavourable physical and mental health. CONCLUSIONS The results give practical implications for promoting health in seafarers. Some of the lifestyle factors tested, such as alcohol use, smoking and physical exercise, fall rather under individual control, but others, such as a healthy, balanced diet on board and sleeping hygiene at sea, should be improved by shipping management.

The voice of Croatian elementary school teachers: qualitative analysis of the teachers’ perspective on their profession

Abstract With regard to the increase in complex demands on teachers within the current social context, the teachers’ perspective on their own profession imposes itself as a very important research question. Given the lack of studies directed towards this issue in transitional countries such as Croatia, the aim of this qualitative study was to gain deeper insight into the Croatian elementary school teachers’ perspective on their profession. The study included specialist subject teachers working in higher levels of primary school education in Croatia. Using data obtained in four focus group discussions (total N = 29) and semi-structured interviews (N = 25), this paper reports on four themes relating to issues of perspective which emerged from the thematic analysis. First, teachers experience their profession as demanding and underestimated, but extremely important with regard to many changes in modern society. Second, difficulties in the work of elementary school teachers can be broadly summarized into four categories: student related, work-team related, parent related and education system-related, whereby the education-system category is the richest by content. Third, teachers’ descriptions of their job satisfaction, intention of leaving the profession, and willingness to recommend the job to young people are presented here with regard to the emergent sources of attitudes to work: the job itself, working hours, job security, low status of teachers, and current education system. Thereby, the job itself, working hours and job security may be described as sources of positive attitudes, while low status of teachers and current education system contribute to negative work attitudes. Finally, the article reports the teachers’ perspective on possible changes and improvements in the system within which they work.

Occupational Stress in Seafaring

The seafaring occupation is characterized by specific psychosocial, work-related, and environmental stressors which have many potential negative effects on the seafarers’ health, safety, and well-being. From a review of the contemporary literature in the field arises the issue of implementation of occupational stress management programmes in the maritime sector. Occupational stress in seafaring is presented in this chapter within the broader theoretical frame of a transactional perspective on occupational stress. Therefore, this chapter relates to occupational sources of stress in seafaring, outcomes of stress at the individual and organizational levels, and important individual and organizational characteristics which may moderate or mediate links between sources of stress and outcomes. The links between occupational stressors and outcomes of stress should be further examined, using stronger study designs and taking into account the great number of individual and organizational variables. The final section gives recommendations for further studies in the field.

Testing the associations between different aspects of seafarers’ employment contract and on-board internet access and their job and life satisfaction and health

Abstract The aim of this study was to test for associations between different aspects of contract and on-board internet access and seafarers’ satisfaction and health. Altogether 298 Croatian seafarers, all officers, employed on cargo ships, with a minimum work experience of two years with their current shipping company, participated in an online survey. The questionnaire included sociodemographic items, questions relating to their employment contract and internet access, and measures of job satisfaction, life satisfaction, mental health, and gastrointestinal and cardiovascular symptoms. Their job- and lifesatisfaction levels were higher for shorter duration on board, favourable ratio of work to non-work days, and compliance with the employment contract regarding the changes to work and non-work days. Mental health differed likewise but only in relation to two aspects of the contract: on-board duration and compliance with the contract. The level of gastrointestinal symptoms was lower in cases of shorter on-board duration and compliance with the contract, and in seafarers who have free, unlimited internet access on board. Lower level of cardiovascular symptoms was found in seafarers with free, unlimited internet access on board. Our findings suggest that in promoting satisfaction and health in seafaring, attention should be given to reducing on-board duration, compliance with the contract, and internet accessibility on board.