Abstract

The study examined stress coping strategies used by the management staff of colleges of education in Nigeria. A descriptive research of the survey design was used for the study. The sample of the study consisted of 1500 respondents, comprising 294 principal officers, 294 deans of schools and 910 heads of departments. Purposive stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample. A questionnaire titled Stress Coping Strategies among Management Staff of Colleges of Education Questionnaire (SCSMSCOEQ) was designed for the study. The validity of the instrument was established by giving the instrument to experts in the Department of Educational Management and Test and Measurement, Department of Guidance and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, while the reliability of the instrument was ensured through test-retest method. The reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained for the instrument which was considered high enough for reliability. Data collected were analysed using frequency counts, means, percentages and t-test analysis. The research questions raised were answered descriptively, while the null hypothesis formulated was tested at 0.005 level of significance using t-test analysis. The study revealed that the level of stress among management staff was high during the period understudy. The findings further indicated that, consultative management, maintenance of cordial relationship, sleep well, immediate response to issues and proper planning are the major strategies used by the management staff. The stress coping strategies being used by management staff of Federal Colleges of Education are quite different from those used by the State owned Colleges of Education in Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended that in order to make stress management strategies being used more effective and that there was no significant difference in the stress coping strategies between Federal and State owned Colleges of Education, the working environment should be made conducive by the stakeholders in order to have similar strategies to cope with stress in the colleges of education.

Key words: Stress, coping strategies, management staff, college of education.