Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify what female middle school principals perceived as on-the-job stressors and to identify the coping preferences employed to reduce stress. This study compared the stressors and coping preferences among principals in relation to their years of experience, school size, and Title I designations. Methodology. The research design of this study was both causal-comparative and descriptive. There were 109 female middle school principals in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties who participated in this study. The participants responded to two surveys, the Administrative Stress Index and the Roesch Coping Preference Scale. Findings. The key findings were that female middle school principals: (1) perceived imposing high expectations on themselves and their workload, as the greatest stressors; (2) with ten or more years of experience perceived ASI stressors differently than principals with fewer years of experience; (3) with four to nine years of experience perceived their relationship with their supervisor differently than those with fewer than three years of experience; (4) who led Title I schools perceived their jobs as more stressful and employed more coping strategies than principals who led non-Title I schools; (5) employed communication as their main coping preference; (6) with 1,000 or more students perceived overall stress as less and delegated tasks more often than principals who led schools with fewer students; and (7) took work home to complete tasks and reduce stress. Conclusions. The results of these surveys indicated that there were a number of on-the-job stressors perceived by female middle school principals. Additionally, a variety of methods were employed to reduce stress. Recommendations. The following recommendations are based on the information gained from this study: (1) female middle school principals must recognize their individual stressors, have a realistic picture of themselves, and know the coping strategies that help them to reduce stress; and (2) further research is needed about stress and coping preferences using different variables and other school levels.