Reactions and Adaptation Strategies of University Teachers to Stress at Work: The Case of Academic Staff Members at Moscow Higher Education Institutions

Currently, Russia is undergoing some active reforms in the sphere of higher education. The sphere of higher education is rapidly transforming, and some profound changes have been noted to have negative as well as positive impact on all participants in this field, including academic staff. The violation of work-life balance among people who are engaged in teaching and science is creating new challenges and stresses, which causes negative psychological reactions and destabilization. This project is devoted to the study of the basic reactions and strategies of adaptation of teachers (lecturers, scholars, professors) from a Moscow university to work stress. The specifics of the workload of teachers are studied, as well as possible sources of stress: workspace, work schedule, responsibilities and tasks of academic worker, the specifics of contracts with the university, the rating of teachers, interaction with students and colleagues. This study also analyzes the forced shift to distance learning as a source of work stress. The study is based on data from 16 in-depth semi-structured interviews involving teachers from the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Computer Science of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.