Working conditions and stress among college professors in the post-COVID-19 context

Resumen

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing stressors in academia, particularly for college professors. In Colombia, professors often face additional demands — large class sizes, teaching at multiple institutions, and concurrent teaching, research and service obligations — that disrupt occupational balance and may elevate stress. Objective: To investigate the relationship between working conditions and stress among Colombian college professors in the post-pandemic context. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 221 university professors recruited through convenience sampling from multiple institutions across three Colombian regions and two teaching modalities. Participants were invited to answer questionnaires to explore associations between socio-demographic and working-condition predictors and stress levels. Rigorous model diagnostics, including multicollinearity checks and fit assessments, were performed to ensure the validity of the findings. Results: 42.5% of the participants reported experiencing very high levels of stress. Significant gender differences emerged, with women reporting higher stress levels than men. Dissatisfaction with productivity and workday monotony were significant predictors of stress. Contrary to expectations, perceived monotony was associated with lower odds of being in the highest stress category, suggesting a possible return-to-routine effect in the post-pandemic occupational context, in which the re-establishment of predictable routines may operate as a temporary resource. Conclusions: It is necessary interventions addressing gender-specific stressors and productivity-related dissatisfaction among university professors. The unexpected finding that monotony correlates with lower stress in the highest-stress category invites further investigation and suggests that, in certain contexts, predictable routines may provide psychological relief. The findings inform primary prevention strategies for occupational health in higher education, supporting institutional efforts to protect lecturers’ mental wellbeing and meaningful occupational participation.