The negative effects of occupational stress have been well documented. Chronic anxiety and distress associated with one’s employment can have a dramatic impact on one’s physical, emotional, and professional well-being (Byers, 1987; House, 1979; Maslach, 1982; Pelletier & Lutz, 1988). Blix and her colleagues suggest that this may be particularly true for university educators who have people- intensive jobs that leave them susceptible to burnout (Blix, Cruise, Mitchell, & Blix, 1994). Stress associated with university employment relates to the demands associated with university service, research, and teaching. Each of these areas of responsibility tax the resources of university instructors, and each contribute to time pressures and constraints that are identified as major sources of work-related stress (Byrne, 1991).

Teaching, however, may be perceived as the primary source of distress for many, as it involves regular public speaking, which is appraised by most people as a stressful life event (Fish, 1986). Gardner and Leak (1994) suggest that the demands associated with teaching are even more taxing than the demands of public speaking. Less formalized training and preparation for teaching may also make university teachers more vulnerable than their elementary and secondary school counterparts (Gardner & Leak, 1994). In another study, university faculty identified teaching as more stressful than either university service or research (Gmelch, Lovrich, & Wilke, 1984). Even teachers recognized by prestigious awards as being among the best of their profession experience fear and trepidation in front of a class (Ford, 1993). This may be especially problematic for women as they often report more anxiety related to teaching then their male counterparts (Blix et al., 1994; Byrne, 1991).

Teaching anxiety may be exacerbated by demands not directly associated with the teaching experience itself. In recent years, universities have felt the sting of cost cutting measures. These measures have resulted in an increase in student:faculty ratios and a decline in teaching resources (CAUT, 1998; CAUT, 1999). Samad and his colleagues argue that despite the increased public pressure to promote excellence in university teaching (e.g. Smith, 1991) and pressure by administrations using teaching excellence as a criterion for promotion and tenure, little has been done by universities to support real improvements in teaching (Elrick, 1990; Samad, Fraser, Fish, & Fraser, 1995). Sorcinelli and Billings (1993), in a study of faculty in tenure-track positions, concluded that "pressures were accentuated by the incongruencies between teaching demands and the reward structure" (p. 8). In sum, these studies and others suggest that university teachers are being required to do more with less, thus taxing their coping resources even further.

In addition to these and other indirect sources of teaching stress, there are the pressures associated with the activities of teaching itself. Gardner and Leak (1994) have suggested threeaspects of teaching that may be a source of anxiety. These include activities related to the preparations for teaching, the anticipation of teaching, and interactions within the classroom setting. Gardner and Leak asked a sample of psychology professors to assess the frequency and intensity of their overall anxiety related to teaching. They also asked participants to identify specific triggers of teaching anxiety. Results indicated that 87% experienced teaching anxiety, with 57% describing their anxiety as definitely unpleasant to extremely unpleasant. Common triggers identified by participants were public speaking (50%), preparing for class (49%), and hostile comments from students (39%).

The present study extended the work of Gardner and Leak (1994) by examining teaching anxiety among full-time faculty from a variety of disciplines. In addition, the study assessed the degree of anxiety associated with specific activities related to the preparations for teaching, the anticipation of teaching, and classroom interactions. The perceived negative effects of teaching anxiety and the effectiveness of individual coping strategies were also determined.

Participants. A total of 230 questionnaires were sent to all full-time faculty at St. Thomas University (n = 80) and a random selection of faculty from the university directories of both campuses of the University of New Brunswick (n = 150). Of these questionnaires, 93 or 40.4% were completed and returned. Of those who responded to the demographic questions, 27 were female and 63 were male. There were 22 assistant, 25 associate, and 45 full professors. In terms of teaching experience, 21 reported 0 to 5 years, 20 reported 6 to 10 years, and 51 reported 11 or more years of teaching experience.

Survey Instrument. The survey instrument consisted of 11 questions pertaining to teaching anxiety associated with activities related to the preparation for teaching, the anticipation of teaching, and interactions in the classroom (see Table 1). Respondents indicated the degree of anxiety experienced related to specific teaching activities on a 7-point Likert scale with 1 = not at all, to 7 = to a great degree. In addition, participants used a similar Likert scale to assess the perceived effects of teaching anxiety on their physical health, overall feeling of well-being, and on the classroom environment. Additional questions concerned coping- strategies, gender of respondent, rank, and full-time teaching experience.

Procedure. Participants received a survey in their mailbox (at St. Thomas University) or via campus mail accompanied by a self-addressed envelope (at The University of New Brunswick campuses). Instructions indicated that the survey concerned: 1) the extent teaching anxiety was prevalent among university professors, and 2) the impact said anxiety may have. Respondents were asked not to provide information that would reveal their identity and to send requests for a written summary of the study results in a separate communication..

Table 1 presents the overall mean anxiety scores for each of the 11 items related to various teaching activities (remember: a score of 1 = not at all, a score of 7 = to a great degree). Means for females and males are also presented. The number in brackets represents the percentage of respondents who reported at least moderate anxiety (i.e., a score of 4 or more) for the item in question. As one can see, the highest levels of anxiety were associated with returning graded work and dealing with disruptive students. The percentage of respondents reporting at least moderate anxiety for each of the 11 items ranged from 20.4% to 45.2%, with a mean of 33.5%. Correlations among these items revealed coefficients that ranged from .29 to .71 indicating that anxiety associated with one item was related to anxiety reported for other items. Thus, an individual who reported significant anxiety associated with the preparations for teaching, would also likely report similar levels of anxiety associated with the anticipation of teaching and with interactions in the classroom.

Comparisons of female and male responses (see Table 1) revealed that both genders reported the greatest anxiety associated with returning graded work and dealing with disruptive students. For all but one item (anticipation prior to each individual class), mean reported anxiety was higher for females than for males. Directional ‘t’ tests revealed statistically significant differences for anxiety associated with preparations prior to the first classes of the year t(88) = 1.86, p< .05, and for dealing with disruptive students t(77) = 1.73, p <.05.

Analyses of variance were used to assess differences in anxiety ratings for respondents of different academic ranks. A significant difference was found for dealing with controversial subjects, F (2,67) = 3.66, p <.05, with Assistant Professors reporting greater anxiety (M = 3.94) than their Associate (M = 2.65) or Full Professor (M = 2.82) counterparts. A significant difference was also found for dealing with disruptive students, F (2,78) = 5.66, p <.01, with Assistant Professors again reporting the greatest anxiety (M = 4.42) compared to Associates (M = 3.27) and Full Professors (M = 2.88).

Analyses of variance were also used to assess differences in anxiety ratings for respondents with teaching experience of 0-5 years, 6-10 years, and 11 or more years. The only significant differences to emerge concerned dealing with disruptive students, F (2,78) = 8.08, p <.001. Persons with teaching experience of 0-5 years reported more anxiety (M = 4.50) than persons with 6-10 years (M = 3.71) or 11 or more years (M = 2.76) of experience.

Table 2 presents the overall mean of ratings of the perceived effects of teaching anxiety on physical health, feelings of well being, and the classroom environment (remember: a score of 1 = not at all, a score of 7 = to a great degree). Means for females and males are also presented. The number in brackets represents the percentage of respondents who reported at least moderate negative effects (i.e., a score of 4 or more). As one can see, respondents were more likely to report that teaching anxiety had more negative effects on personal well being than on interactions in the classroom. Consistent with earlier results, females reported a slightly higher negative impact than males, although the differences are not significant. Analyses of variance did not reveal significant differences in ratings of negative effects for either rank or teaching experience.

Participants rated the effectiveness of their coping strategies for decreasing teaching anxiety on a 7 point scale (1 = not at all, 7 = to a great degree). The overall mean for this item was 5.57, with 29.1% indicating that their coping strategies were moderately effective or worse (i.e., a score of 4 or less). Female ratings of the effectivenss of coping strategies (M = 5.08) were significantly lower than male ratings (M = 5.77), t(75) = -1.68, p <.05. No significant difference were noted for ranks or years of teaching experience.

Results of the present study indicate that activities related to teaching lead to significant levels of anxiety for many university professors. Between 31 and 41 percent of respondents reported at least moderate anxiety associated with preparations for teaching and with the anticipation of teaching. Further, between 20 and 45 percent of respondents reported at least moderate anxiety associated with specific interactions in the classroom, with returning graded material (45%) and dealing with disruptive students (44%) receiving the highest ratings. These findings, with university teachers from a variety of disciplines, are consistent with Gardner and Leak’s (1994) study of psychology faculty, and support the conclusion that teaching anxiety is a problem for many individuals.

Many participants in this study acknowledged at least moderate negative effects of teaching anxiety on physical health (37.6%) and on feelings of well being (35.5%). Interestingly, fewer respondents (26.1%) reported negative effects on the classroom environment. One possible explanation for this result is that those who experience significant teaching anxiety may place greater importance on minimizing the negative effects of anxiety on teaching effectiveness, than on their own well being. Thus, coping resources may be more focused on performing well than on feeling well. More research is needed to explore this phenomenon. However, these findings do suggest that interventions should not only address the effects of anxiety on teaching effectiveness or the classroom atmosphere, but also pay special attention to the emotional, physical, and psychological costs to the individual instructor.

Gardner and Leak’s (1994) participants identified public speaking as the most common trigger of teaching anxiety. Results of the present study indicate that although public speaking was stressful for many respondents, other activities associated with preparations, anticipation, and interactions within the classroom were identified as anxiety provoking for a greater percentage of respondents. The apparent difference in results is likely due to the fact that the present study employed more specific examples of teaching activities, particularly those related to interactions within the classroom. Thus, although participants in Gardner and Leak’s study identified public speaking as a primary trigger for teaching anxiety, their responses may not only reflect anxiety related to the specific act of speaking in front of a group, but also public speaking in specific circumstances. The present study found that returning graded material, dealing with disruptive students, dealing with controversial topics, and conducting group work resulted in higher ratings of anxiety than the specific act of speaking in front of the class. These findings suggest that interventions target specific classroom situations that are likely to be most stressful for instructors.

Female respondents consistently reported more teaching anxiety than males, with the largest differences noted for preparations prior to the first classes of the year and for dealing with disruptive students. Females also rated their coping strategies as less effective than did male participants. These results are in line with previous research indicating that women faculty report higher levels of job related stress, greater emotional exhaustion, and lower ratings of coping effectiveness when compared to their male counterparts (Blix et al., 1994; Byrne, 1991).

A number of factors may be contributing to these gender differences. First of all, research to date has utilized self reports of anxiety and stress. It is possible that women and men experience similar levels of anxiety, but that men are less willing to acknowledge it. There is some support for this idea in studies showing that men are less likely than women to report or seek treatment for health and emotional problems (Kane, 1991; Muller, 1990). Research looking at more direct measures of anxiety (e.g. physiological indicators, objective raters) and comparing health indices would be useful in examining this possibility.

Another possibility, of course, is that women do actually experience more teaching anxiety than men. If this is so, as Blix and her colleagues (1994) suggest, then research is needed to try and identify causal factors. One natural place to start would be to focus attention on the women themselves and identify factors (e.g. personality, coping styles, family dynamics) that may contribute to elevated anxiety levels. Another fruitful area of endeavour would be to compare women faculty who differ in anxiety levels and coping effectiveness to identify distinguishing factors. Researchers need to be aware, however, of the possibility that the gender differences in question may be linked in part to differences in teaching environments, rather than on key differences between women and men faculty. Consider, for example, that the significant differences in anxiety related to dealing with disruptive students may be related to differences in the types or frequency of disruptions and/or responses by students to attempts to quell such disruptions. It should be noted that a number of female colleagues have suggested this possibility to the authors, describing their experiences with disruptive students as distinctly different from that encountered by their male colleagues. Further research is needed to explore this possibility.

The results of the present study provide some support for the adage that experience is the best teacher, or at least results in the calmest teacher. Significant differences in anxiety ratings for instructors of different ranks were noted for dealing with controversial issues and disruptive students, with Assistant Professors reporting more anxiety than Associate or Full Professors. Also instructors with 0-5 years teaching experience reported significantly more anxiety associated with dealing with disruptive students than instructors with 6 or more years of experience. Although not significant, mean anxiety ratings for other teaching activities were highest for those of lowest rank and the least teaching experience.

The results for teaching experience variables are consistent with the work of others (e.g. Blix et al., 1994; Sorcinelli & Billings, 1993) and suggest that some interventions to counter teaching anxiety be directed specifically at the most junior faculty. Sorcinelli and Billings (1993) recommend a mentor program where senior faculty would work with junior faculty. One circumstance where this type of relationship might be most effective is team teaching where a veteran is paired with a rookie and both have a stake in the success of the course in question.

In order to be effective, however, mentor programs or any other intervention will need to overcome the obstacle that university faculty do not freely talk with one another regarding problems with teaching anxiety or other teaching difficulties. Bernstein (1983) contends that part of the problem lies in a competitive attitude among university professors, while we have argued that instructors may not admit to problems with anxiety as an ego defense to avoid being viewed as less competent or able than their colleagues (Fish & Fraser, 1996). Since we began working in this area of research, numerous colleagues from our own and other institutions have shared their experiences with teaching anxiety. These individuals often lament the fact that there are few avenues open for university professors who experience problems with anxiety and that they, for the most part, have suffered in silence, sometimes for many years. Those involved with designing interventions will need to consider this reluctance to share and develop strategies that make it more comfortable for those experiencing problems to come forward.

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Table 1: Mean anxiety scores for various teaching activities

Just prior to each individual class 3.12(40.9) 3.19 3.05

Preparing exams, assignments, projects 2.91(31.2) 3.07 2.86

Dealing with controversial topics 3.00(22.5) 3.36 2.87

Note. The overall mean includes responses from 3 respondents who didn’t indicate their gender.

aNumbers in brackets indicate the percentage of respondents reporting at least moderate anxiety (i.e. a score of 4 or more) for the item in question.

Table 2: Mean Ratings of the negative effects of teaching anxiety

Effects on classroom environment 2.49(26.1) 2.42 2.41

Note. The overall mean includes responses from 3 respondents who didn’t indicate their gender.

aNumbers in brackets indicate the percentage of respondents reporting at least moderate anxiety

(i.e. a score of 4 or more) for the item in question.