Knowledge, perception and stress management practices among academic staff of the university of Calabar, Nigeria: a qualitative study

Stress has permeated the academic environment worldwide. The highly competitive 21st century environment worsens the situation as academics and academic institutions must strive to remain relevant. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge, perception and management practices of stress among academic staff of the University of Calabar, Nigeria. This study used a qualitative data collection method. Four focus group discussion (FGD) sessions were conducted, one with female lecturers ranking from graduate assistant to lecturer II, one with female lecturers ranking from lecturer I to professor, one with male lecturers ranking from graduate assistant to lecturer II and one with male lecturers ranking from lecturer I to professor. The total number of FGD participants was 42. Four key informant interviews were conducted, each with a top-ranking officer of the University. The FGD sessions and interviews were tape recorded. Field notes were also taken. After listening to the tapes and reading the field notes several times, the data were transcribed. Thematic analysis of the data was carried out. Participants knew what stress is and could give their definitions of stress. Their definitions encompassed common stressors such as excess workload, poor remuneration, including salary that, according to them, cannot take them to the gate not to talk of taking them home. Other stressors mentioned by them included lack of office space, epileptic electric power supply, lack of incentives and stringent promotion criteria such as publishing in SCOPUS-indexed journals. They agreed that female academics were exposed to more stress than their male counterparts. They had individual ways of managing stress such as taking a nap, relaxation, exercising and listening to music. Peer support strategies for distressed colleagues included pooling funds for them and assisting with official work. Stress is a common phenomenon among the participants. Collaboration and networking with local and international academics, with pooling of resources, could assist the academics in carrying out quality research and publishing in high impact factor non-predatory journals.