An analysis of business students’ stressors and their coping strategies in the post-pandemic era

Huma Akram (), Maqsood H. Bhutto and Muhammad Salman Chughtai
Additional contact information
Huma Akram: Northeast Normal University
Maqsood H. Bhutto: University of Jyväskylä
Muhammad Salman Chughtai: International Islamic University

DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, 2022, vol. 49, issue 2, No 10, 239-252

Abstract: Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a dramatic change in teaching–learning practices in higher education across the world. The post-pandemic era with a new shift of teaching–learning phase raises the concern of students' psychological well-being, especially the novice, i.e., first-year undergraduate students, as first-year students often struggle to adjust to the new environment of higher institutions, thereby depressive symptoms are more prevalent among them. In this regard, a qualitative study was conducted followed by a dyadic approach to explore the symptoms of students’ psychological stressors, their causes, and provide essential remedies for coping with such behaviors in the post-pandemic era. The findings show that students’ stressors were commonly reported due to the academic workload, institutional regulations, lack of resources, and financial constraints. Regarding indications, unusual behavior, lack of confidence, improper sleep, and lack of motivation were identified as the primary symptoms of students’ stress. However, participants reported a lack of understanding regarding stress-related matters. Yet, students and faculty members try to adopt several strategies for reducing such stressors. By examining the perceived psychological stress, indications, and coping behaviors, this study enriches the literature by bridging pragmatic and theoretical gaps regarding students’ stressors of business management. Furthermore, the study mainly suggests that adequate institutional support should be provided to deal with students’ problems that cause stress. Also, universities should organize workshops or seminars to cultivate psychological health awareness among students and faculty members.

Keywords: Stress; Stress creators; Stress indicators; Coping strategies; Undergraduate business students; Qualitative analysis; Ecological model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40622-022-00319-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:decisn:v:49:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s40622-022-00319-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/40622

DOI: 10.1007/s40622-022-00319-8

Access Statistics for this article

DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta is currently edited by Rajesh Babu

More articles in DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta from Springer, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().