Psychological stress among female teachers at schools and universities in Central Asia: transition consequences to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This article presents results of a sociological study of the problems of psychological health of female teachers in Cen- tral Asia during remote work in the context of COVID-19. The study was conducted by the Research Institute for Social and Gender Studies at the Kazakh National Women’s Teacher Training University, with support of the United Nations Educational, scientific and cultural organization. The aim of the empirical study is to assess the level of stress that women- teachers, in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, experienced in the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods, as well as the stress factors that may arise as a result of organization of work and workload. The practical and scientific significance of the study lies in the fact that it will help assess the stress in the lives of women teachers in Central Asia, and use the results and rec- ommendations of the study to prevent stress-related problems. According to the study, 53% of female teachers indicated that they have experienced stress due to their workload and family problems in the pre-pandemic period, and this figure increased to 65% after the pandemic. The results of the study can be used by researchers in the humanities who study stress that affects the psychological health of female teachers during the pandemic and emergency situations.

Key words: teachers from Central Asia, COVID-19 and teachers, psychological stress, female teachers, gender equality, pandemic, distance learning.