Role Stress and Coping Among Business School Professors: A Phenomenological Study

Authors

Chetna Priyadarshini, IBS Hyderabad IFHE UniversityFollow
Abhilash Ponnam, IBS Hyderabad IFHE UniversityFollow
Pratyush Banerjee, IBS Hyderabad IFHE UniversityFollow

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to identify the determinants of role stress amongst business school professors in India and explore the coping strategies followed by them based on the professional experiences shared by the professors. We employ Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to gain insights into the causes of rising levels of stress in business schools and the practised coping strategies from the professors’ perspective based on their narratives of lived experiences. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 64 professors from 29 public and private business schools in India. Analysis of qualitative data resulted in the emergence of 11 themes; we make recommendations based on the themes for the business schools’ management to assist the professors in alleviating role stress. As pointed out by Chong and Ahmed (2014), phenomenological studies are rarely used for inquiry in the higher education context. The insights gathered from IPA help in understanding the tenacious causes of role stress in the management institutes and the day-to-day coping strategies followed to reduce the same.

Keywords

Role Stress, Business Schools, Professors, Stress Coping Strategies, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Author Bio(s)

Chetna Priyadarshini is a Doctoral student at IBS Business School, IFHE University, Hyderabad, India. She is pursuing PhD in Human Resource Management and is actively involved in teaching assignments for graduation level students. Her research interest includes e-recruitment, job search behaviour, and qualitative research methods. She has published research articles in journals of international repute and has also presented papers in a few international conferences. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: Chetna Priyadarshini at, chetnapriyadarshini@gmail.com.

Abhilash Ponnam (PhD) is Associate Professor at IBS Business School, IFHE University, Hyderabad, India. He teaches Marketing Research Methods for MBA and Qualitative Research Methods for Doctoral Level students. His research interests in Qualitative Methods include phenomenology and mixed method research design. His previous publications in Qualitative Research appeared in Journal of Product and Brand Management and The Qualitative Report. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: Abhilash Ponnam at, abhilashponnam@gmail.com.

Pratyush Banerjee is Assistant Professor at IBS Business School, IFHE University, Hyderabad, India. He has a PhD in Human Resource Management from ICFAI University Dehradun. He has interest in the fields of cognitive psychology and qualitative research methodologies. He has published research articles in journals of international repute and has presented several papers at various international conferences. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: Pratyush Banerjee at, pratyush.banerjee@ibsindia.org.

Publication Date

12-28-2015

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2434

Recommended APA Citation

Priyadarshini, C., Ponnam, A., & Banerjee, P. (2015). Role Stress and Coping Among Business School Professors: A Phenomenological Study. The Qualitative Report, 20(12), 2050-2066. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2434