Multivariate statistical analysis of the work stress phenomenon in schoolteachers during the current pandemic context in Chile

Abstract

Job stress in teachers has been a reality evidenced in qualitative terms in Chile. In fact, studies have shown that stress levels in the world population have increased due to health restrictions and the reformulation of the working day caused by COVID-19. Consequently, this research focuses on the perception of stress in school education teachers during the pandemic context in Santiago, Chile. Its objective is to analyze teacher stress using multivariate analysis techniques. The analysis of the ED-06 teacher stress survey sought to establish general trends and connections between different social phenomena related to the perception of stress in teachers. The results showed that a significant group of teachers expressed discomfort with their current work situation and felt overwhelmed by the excessive workload associated with the transition from classroom teaching to teleworking. The work overload affects the physical and mental functioning of the teachers, so it can be deduced that, as the days go by and with little improvement in the pandemic, greater mental exhaustion could appear. The study concluded that a significant sample of teachers reported that work overload and fatigue were related to a pre-pandemic tendency linked to the so-called "historical debt" and to the precarious work situation suffered by a segment of the national teaching profession. Thus, stress would not be a variable determined only by the pandemic but is a long-standing phenomenon. Keywords: educational work contexts, stress, teachers, pandemics, multivariate statistical analysis