MULTIDIMENSIONAL OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AMONG COLLEGE TEACHERS OF MANIPUR (NORTHEAST INDIA): A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSIS OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND ORGANISATIONAL PREDICTORS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v14.i3.2026.6834Keywords:
Occupational stress, College Teachers, Higher Education, Organisational Climate, ManipurAbstract [English]
Background: Occupational stress has become a growing issue in higher education institutions, mainly due to increased job demands, pressure to perform, and organisational changes. Research on this issue is ongoing globally, but there is limited direct empirical evidence from many geographically remote, rural, or less-connected academic contexts, particularly from Northeast India, which remains isolated from major centres of global academia. Recognising this gap, we aim to explore multidimensional occupational stress among college teachers in Manipur, converging more on the demographic profile and organisational factors.
Methodology: We conduct a cross-sectional quantitative study, collecting a sample of 400 participants from 26 colleges in the Imphal district, using a structured questionnaire based on the Employment Organisation Sources of Stressors (EOSS). Data collection was done through simple random sampling, and descriptive statistics were calculated in MS Excel to analyse stress.
Results: Our findings reveal that overall occupational stress levels within the college fraternity are predominantly low; 68% of teachers experience low stress, 27.5% moderate stress, and no cases of high overall stress. Within the multiple dimensions, organisational climate stress (39.5%) and interpersonal relationship stress (36.5%) showed the highest levels of moderate stress. On the contrary, personal development stress was the lowest, suggesting relatively stable perceptions of career advancement and professional development opportunities.
Conclusion: Our main finding is that organisational and relational factors have a greater impact on occupational stress than workload-related pressures. Therefore, the mitigation strategy should focus on improving organisational transparency, strengthening collegial relationships, and fostering supportive institutional environments. Besides these, our findings provide context-specific empirical data that can be used to formulate policy and faculty well-being initiatives within higher education institutions in Northeast India.
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