Work 30 (2008) 511–522 511 IOS Press Extent and sources of occupational stress in university staff Caroline Biron, Jean-Pierre Brun * and Hans Ivers Chair in Occupational Health and Safety Management, Faculty of Administration, Laval University, Qu ´ ebec, Canada Received 31 December 2005 Revised 1 February 2006 Accepted 20 March 2008 Abstract. Canadian higher education sector has undergone numerous changes during the past decades. Increased student enrolments, massive cuts in human resources and constant restructuring are changes likely to have had a considerable impact on all employees (e.g., administrative, trades, and faculty). While many studies conducted in different countries have shown that stress in universities is a problem of alarming proportions, to date, no study of the entire staff of a university has been carried out in Canada. This research uses an approach based on the prevention and management of the sources of occupational stress to study 1086 employees of a Quebec university. Data were collected by means of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. It was found that the proportion of individuals who reported a high level of psychological distress was twice as high (40%) than that reported for a Quebec-wide sample (20%). Work overload, the relationship with one’s superior and participation in decision making were systematically reported as high risks to employees’ health. It was found that human resources management practices have not followed the rapid organizational changes which affected the university in the past years. The results are discussed in light of the risk management approach. Keywords: Psychological distress, prevention, risk management, higher education, occupational stress 1. Introduction Canadian higher education sector has experienced significant and rapid changes in the past two decades, including, among other, restructuring, budget cuts and the move towards mass higher education without appro- priate increase in resources. For example, according to the Association of Universities and Colleges of Cana- da, government funding has not kept pace with stu- dent enrolment, putting pressure on university finances. Indeed, government funding transfers per student was 17% lower in 2001–2002 than in 1992–1993 [3]. Con- currently, full-time student enrolment has increased by 50% since the 1980’s [4] and the number of staff * Address for correspondence: Jean-Pierre Brun, Chair in Occupa- tional Health and Safety Management, Pavillon Palasis-Prince, Laval University, Quebec, Canada, G1K 7P4. Tel.: +1 418 656 2405; Fax: +1 418 656 7028; E-mail: jean-pierre.brun@fsa.ulaval.ca. has remained static or decreased [5]. In the United States, governments provided almost 30% more sup- port per student in 2001–2002 than they did in 1980– 1981, whereas Canadian governments provided 20% less per student support over the same period [3]. To bridge the funding gap, the higher education system became commercially oriented and pressured to behave in market-rational ways by being more entrepreneurial and competitive [23,55]. Despite substantial increas- es in tuition fees and other generating activities (e.g., donations, collaborations with private sector), univer- sities still face funding shortages [49] which are likely to affect all university staff. 1.1. Extent and sources and consequences of occupational stress in universities In a review of the literature on stress among universi- ty professors in UK, USA and Australia, Kinman [42] 1051-9815/08/$17.00  2008 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved