Abstract:

Work-related stress is still a very relevant topic because of its implications to the sense of well being of workers, although it has already been widely studied. In the case of universities it is equally important to know what causes stress and the responses that people have to it in order to adapt to its experience or to seek solutions to it. Specifically, stress in women and men has been relevant because it follows that there would exist a difference not only in the experience of stress, but also the sources and mechanisms of coping with it. This study was conducted at a university in Ecuador, comparing men and women who work both in the teaching area and the administrative area. To these groups we applied an inventory composed of a general question about work stress, the OSI questionnaire and the Brief Cope Questionnaire. The data obtained were processed using calculations of correlations and ANOVA using SPSS. Our results indicated that there are no significant differences between men and women taking into account the experience of work stress, being among some moderately stressed and stressed subjects. There were also no significant differences in the sources of stress in men and women. Gender differences in response were found in coping mechanisms, being statistically significant using the expression of feelings in women and the use of humor in men. Other results indicated significant correlations between stressors and job stress in men but not in women. At the same time, there was coping mechanisms that correlated with job stress in men - as the use of toxic substances - which did not correlate in women and vice versa, as the case of positive reinterpretation. Our findings include differences between men and women with work carried out within the university, being administrative or teaching staff. This research helps understand the processes and dynamics that develop within the University, where gender is a necessary variable to be taken into account, due to work stress behavior in men and women. It is essential, then, to take into account that there are commonalities for men and also for women, given the influence of context on them, however, there will be specificities for each group given that the needs, motives and behaviors will be different .

Keywords:

Work stress, gender, high studies, teachers, support staff.