Varying occupational stress and organisational commitment within the university staff of contrasting economies (Cross-sectional comparative study of middle range public universities in Pakistan and the UK)

This thesis investigates the varying occupational stressors and organisational commitment of the contrasting genders at the teaching and administrative positions in the contrasting economies of the UK and Pakistan. Whilst the existing literature is focused on individual cases of personal strain and resources, occupational therapists’ role, social support and organisational commitment of employees, this thesis extends the current knowledge with comparative analysis in the context of gender, faculty and economy. The mixed method used is based on the combination of SEM, ChiSquare and multiple regression informed by the total of 408 survey responses, followed by a qualitative study of 98 interviews. The results confirmed that overall organisational factors cause higher stress while psychological effects are common in the education sectors of both economies. Overall stress, and organisational commitment, is higher in Pakistan despite higher power distance and collectivism. Overall, personal factors cause more stress to females and non-teaching staff, while organisational factors often make males and teaching staff stressed. Furthermore, the physical and behavioural effects are higher amongst males and non-teaching staff, while females and teaching staff have higher psychological symptoms. Nevertheless, the causes and consequences of stress, and job-related preferences differ for gender, faculty, and economy. The statistical tests confirmed non-significant impact of occupational therapists on the affective commitment (AC), normative commitment (NC), and continuance commitment (CC). All other predictors, to some extent, have a significant effect on OC. Furthermore, males exhibit higher AC, while females often report NC and CC. Social support and stress management programmes are effective in sustaining human capital and reducing strain. The qualitative findings supported the statistical outcomes. Based on above results, practical implications are recommended to public universities for reducing stress and improving organisational commitment to sustain human capital