The relationship between Technostress levels and job satisfaction of Teachers within the COVID-19 period

Abstract

This research aims to determine the technostress levels experienced by teachers in distance education during the COVID-19 period and examine the relationship between this technostress level and job satisfaction. The research was structured in relational comparison type. The attendees comprised 525 teachers working at different echelons of education, determined in accordance with the purposive sampling method. Technostress Scale, job satisfaction scale, and open-ended questions form were used as data collection tools during the research. The data were collected online through Google Forms due to COVID-19 conditions. Descriptive statistics, backward hierarchical multiple regression (BHMR), MANOVA analysis, and inductive content analysis were used for the data analysis. According to the research findings, it was figured out that teachers were exposed to intensive use of technology in distance education, this negatively affected their life and performance, their workload increased, and they had to put much more effort to adapt to modern technologies in the Covid-19 pandemic period. It was found that the teachers’ job satisfaction levels were high in general, and the female teachers’ job satisfaction levels were higher than those of male teachers. The job satisfaction levels of private school teachers were lower than those of public-school teachers. In the research, the gender of teachers and the institution type they work under, both being among the main factors affecting teachers’ technostress level, were determined to make a significant difference. However, the distance education process, conducted during the COVID-19 period, was also noted to involve educational, psychological, and administrative challenges. Based on research results, it is recommended to improve teachers’ online learning and technology literacy skills, and review present undergraduate programs in terms of preparation for distance education.