Occupational stress and it’s dimensions among faculty members in an agricultural university: An ex-post-facto study

Aims: The study aimed to assess the occupational stress levels among faculty members of an agricultural university and to identify the most prominent dimensions of stress using the Occupational Role Stress (ORS) scale. Study design: Ex-post-facto research design was applied, suitable for examining relationships without experimental manipulation. Place and Duration of Study: The research was conducted at Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (VNMKV), Parbhani, across twelve constituent colleges during the academic year 2024-25. Methodology: A proportionate stratified random sampling method was used to select 120 faculty members, ensuring balanced representation across colleges. Occupational stress was measured using Udai Pareek’s ORS scale consisting of 50 items across 10 dimensions. Data collection was carried out through face-to-face interviews using a pre-tested and refined schedule. Responses were coded, cleaned and analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS to determine prevailing stress levels and identify dominant stress dimensions. Results: The findings revealed that 28.33% of the faculty experienced low occupational stress, while the majority (71.67%) reported moderate levels and none fell into the high-stress category. Analysis of stress dimensions showed that Role Overload (mean score 11.47) was the most significant stressor, followed by Resource Inadequacy (11.21) and Inter-role Distance (10.60). Other stressors such as Role Erosion, Self-role Distance and Role Expectation Conflict were present at moderate levels, while Role Ambiguity (9.98) and Role Stagnation (9.71) ranked lowest, indicating they were relatively less problematic. Conclusion: The study concludes that occupational stress among agricultural university faculty is predominantly moderate, driven primarily by workload pressure, lack of adequate resources and conflicts between professional and personal roles. Institutional interventions such as workload redistribution, improved access to resources and family-friendly policies are recommended to reduce stress levels, enhance faculty well-being and ultimately strengthen organizational productivity.