Perceived Stress And Work Performance Of Women Lecturers In Managerial Positions: Mediating Role Of Well-Being And Moderating Role Of Institutional Stress Management Systems

Abstract

The objective of this research was to perform a conditional process analysis to understand the impact of perceived stress on performance, the mediating role of well being in the stress-work performance relationship, and the moderating function of institutional stress management systems in the interplay between stress, well-being, and work performance among women lecturers holding managerial positions in twelve selected higher education establishments in Ghana. A quantitative methodology, utilising descriptive and inferential statistical designs, and the conditional process analysis were adopted for this investigation. The institutions and the population were selected using purposive sampling method. A sample of 270 participants was selected with proportional stratified random sampling technique from a population of 454. The findings revealed that a significant number of participants reported experiencing high levels of perceived stress, which varied across different institutions. Furthermore, it was discovered that well-being plays a crucial role in mediating the relationship between stress and work performance, and that institutional stress management systems significantly moderate the relationships between stress and well-being, well-being and work performance, and stress and work performance among the women. The study concluded that the introduction of effective stress management systems could alleviate the harmful impacts of stress on well-being and work performance. It was, therefore, recommended that management of higher educational institutions in Ghana should ensure that their institutions have formal stress management policies or support systems for staff in their institution which should be accessible to staff.