Occupational Stress among Mathematics Teachers in Kerala: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study across Demographic and Professional Variables

Abstract

Occupational stress among teachers has become a growing concern due to increasing workload, role expectations, and organizational demands, particularly in school settings. The present study aimed to assess the level of occupational stress among mathematics teachers in primary, secondary, and higher secondary schools in Thrissur District of Kerala and to examine differences in stress across demographic and professional variables such as gender, age, locality, educational qualification, employment status, and level of teaching. A descriptive survey research design was adopted, and a sample of 200 teachers was selected using a stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected using the Occupational Stress Scale (Srivastava & Singh, 1981) and analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, and one-way ANOVA. The results indicated that the majority of teachers experienced moderate levels of stress, with role overload and working conditions emerging as major stressors. Significant differences were found across gender, locality, employment status, age group, and level of teaching, with female, urban, private school, middle-aged, and secondary-level teachers reporting higher stress, while no significant difference was observed based on educational qualification. The study concludes that occupational stress is prevalent among teachers and is influenced by both personal and organizational factors, highlighting the need for targeted interventions and institutional support to enhance teacher well-being.