Distance Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Stress Factors for Female School and University Teachers in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

According to international studies, teachers experience more stress than representatives of other professions and are included in the group of occupations with a high presence of stress factors. This is due to the hard work of teachers in terms of high responsibility, motivational and personal involvement in pedagogical work, as well as significant participation in communication with school children or students that determine the stressful nature of the teacher's activity. Difficulties were especially noticeable when teachers switched to distance education in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines the predictors of stress affecting the mental health of female teachers in schools and universities in Central Asia (Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) during distance (online) learning at the time of the pandemic. In addition, according to the results of the study, it was found that in the conditions of COVID-19, the impact of the level of material and technical security/access on mental health is important when female teachers have a good social climate at work. The study also confirmed that the impact on mental health is most noticeable when female teachers are more actively involved in the decision-making process with specific organizational goals in accordance with a participatory management policy, and female teachers often receive feedback about their work. Female teachers at universities and schools were surveyed using a random stratified sampling method, and an anonymous online survey was conducted. Responses from school and university women teachers/lecturers were collected in Google Forms, which subsequently led to a comparative analysis of stress factors affecting their mental health. A total of 748 female teachers took part in the survey. Empirical research is based on a quantitative research method and uses a survey data collection methodology. Stress factors among female educators were tested T-test SPSS.22 software.