SELF-ESTEEM AND WORKPLACE STRESS OF ALBANIAN ACADEMIC STAFF

Objectives. Work stress is experienced almost by all employees of all professions and academic staff are no exception. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of workplace stress in relation with the self-esteem academic staff working at the educational institutions in Albania. One of the objectives of the study was to exploring the possible differences on self-esteem and on workplace stress among academic staff according different demographic variables. Material and methods. The data were collected during September 2019, through an on-line questionnaire. Three tools were used in this study: questionnaire about demographic data, Workplace Stress Scale and Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale. A total of 182 academic staff of Albanian Higher Education Institutions participated in this study. Results. According to the data obtained 52.7% of the academic staff reported experiencing moderate levels of workplace stress and 45.6% reported low level of workplace stress. Majority of participants 86.8% reported experiencing high level of self-esteem. Statistically significant negative correlation was detected between workplace stress and self-esteem. There was no significant correlation between self-esteem and personal characteristics of participants related to age and years of experience in teaching, between workplace stress and personal characteristics of participants related to age and years of experience in teaching. Conclusions. Teacher with higher self-esteem report less workplace stress and teacher with higher workplace stress report a lower self-esteem. Higher education institutions have to manage and protect their staff from increasing levels of stress and also they have to take actions to enhance the self-esteem and the wellness of the academic staff. Keywords: self-esteem, workplace stress, academic staff, higher educational institutions.