A STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE AND ITS IMPACT ON OCCUPATIONAL ROLE STRESS AMONGST FACULTY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

The world is evolving at a fast pace. The industrial revolution, economic reforms, technological advancement, constant need to strive for excellence, cut-throat competition is restructuring social, economic, technological and legal setup across the globe. Change has become an inevitable part of every domain. With the invasion of technology and inter-disciplinary teaching and learning, changes are noticed in education sector too. India ranks the third in terms of number of universities in the world. Karnataka ranks third in terms if number of universities as per All India Survey on Higher Education 2018-19, Ministry of HRD, India. To meet to the demands employees, spend 50% of their time in the organizations and hence the climate (environment) in the organisation, the relationship between subordinates, peers, superiors and the management play a vital role. Constant interaction with number of stakeholders and the need to be at pace with the competition makes them feel stressed too. An employee will be able to give his/her best when there is conducive environment at the workplace. Though there are nearly 1000 universities in India, little emphasis is given to understand the impact of organisational climate on occupational role stress among faculty. The study aims to assess the relationship between demographic variables, Organization climate and occupational role stress among faculty in higher education; Also, to measure the association between organizational climate and Occupational Role Stress and evaluate the impact of specific organizational climate dimensions on specific occupational role stress dimensions chosen for the study. The results are derived assessing three hypotheses. The testing of the hypotheses is done by using statistical techniques like correlation, Regression analysis, Post Hoc test and Factor analysis. ‘Marital Status’ and ‘Hierarchy’ were among the demographic variables which showed an influence on Organisational Climate & Occupational Role Stress. A 6.4% impact of organisational climate on occupational role stress was recorded through the analysis. The factor analysis helped xix reduce the Organisational Climate dimensions to three factors and Occupational Role Stress dimensions were reduced to five factors. The research stated that as organizational climate improves occupational role stress among its faculty lessens and vice versa. To have a better organizational Climate, it is suggested that higher education institutes must focus on - personal and professional development; creating good team dynamics and supportive superiors attitude; management support; open communication; effective and efficient HR mechanism; employee welfare and transparency; scope for personal growth; meeting personal expectations; reducing ambiguity in their roles; catering to resource inadequacy; work overload; emphasizing social wellbeing and employee engagement. Higher education is witnessing technological advancements in pedagogy. Avoiding or escaping from technological adaption is impossible. The present research helped derive a model suggesting three dimensions to assess Organisational Climate and five dimensions to evaluate Occupational Role Stress among faculty in higher education. With a perceived increase of technostress and technophobia among teachers, the present research can also act as a groundwork for the studies on technostress in the education sector in future.