Occupational Stress and Faculty Performance: Relationship between Resource Stressors and Faculty Performance in Selected Private Universities in Kenya

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between resource stressors and faculty performance in selected private universities in Kenya. Resource stressors were broken down into three items; working facilities and equipment, compensation and skills. On the other hand faculty performance was evaluated as a component of three domains; research, teaching and service. The target population was 947 academic staff from six Chartered Private Universities in Kenya. A sample of 384 faculty members was used with a 64% response rate.  Primary data was collected through a questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions. The study adopted a cross sectional survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics was applied in data analysis. ANOVA tests revealed a p-value of 0.00, therefore rejecting the null hypothesis. Thus, revealing a significant relationship between resource stressors and faculty performance. Further analysis revealed a negative linear relationship between resource stressors and faculty performance (beta coefficient -0.495). R² was 0.389 implying that resources stressors explained 38.9% of faculty performance. Descriptive analysis revealed that faculty members in the selected private universities in Kenya experienced low to medium levels of occupational stress. On the other hand, their level of performance was moderate. Regression analysis revealed an inverse relationship between resource stressors and faculty performance. Analysis of the faculty performance revealed that the level of performance in research was lowest while it was highest in teaching. The research findings imply that it is necessary to maintain low levels of stress for better faculty performance.