EXPLORING PARENTAL STRESS AND PROFESSIONAL WORKLOAD AMONG WOMEN HEAD-TEACHERS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Muhammad Athar Hussain; Javeria Azam

doi:10.46662/jass.v11i1.429

Muhammad Athar Hussain Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad
Javeria Azam Ph.D. Scholar E.T.E, Department of ECE & E.T.E Faculty of Education, Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46662/jass.v11i1.429

Keywords: Professional Workload, Parental Stress, Women Head Teachers

Abstract

Working mothers in Pakistan have to fulfill professional duties with family duties which often lead to parental stress. This phenomenology study is aimed to explore the phenomenon of parental stress due to professional workload in the light of experiences of headmistresses who are mothers and are working in Elementary schools of Faisalabad during academic year 2023-2024. Only those headmistresses were selected through purposive sampling who have children between the age of 0 to 12 years. Children at this age group need full attention of parents especially mothers for their holistic development. Eight participants were interviewed and asked questions to explore workload, experiences regarding parental stress and strategies to cope with parental stress. The data was analyzed through thematic analysis using NVivo 14. The participants revealed they have no coping strategy to balance workload and parental stress.