The role of gender in workplace stress: a critical literature review

Abstract

Objective The aim of this review was to evaluate research relating to the role of gender in the level of workplace stress. A further aim was to review literature relating to stressors of particular relevance to working women. These stressors included, multiple roles, lack of career progress and discrimination and stereotyping. Design Systematic review. Method Major databases were searched in order to identify studies investigating gender and workplace stress. A range of research designs were included and no restrictions were made on the basis of the occupations of the participants. Results Much of the research indicated that women reported higher levels of stress compared to men. However, several studies reported no difference between the genders. Furthermore, the evidence for the adverse effects of multiple roles, lack of career progress and discrimination and stereotyping was inconsistent. Conclusion The current review concluded that the evidence regarding the role of gender in workplace stress and stressors was inconsistent. Limitations of the research were highlighted and implications for practice were discussed.

Investigation of Employees’ Sources of Stress According to Demographic Variables by Controlling Type A Personality Scores

“…Cinsiyetler arasında farklılık olduğu bulgusuna ulaşan araştırmalar (örn. Barhem vd., 2004;Decker ve Borgen, 1993;Gyllensten ve Palmer, 2005) ise bu araştırmanın bulgularının aksine, iş yerinde kadınların erkeklerden daha çok strese maruz kaldıklarını belirtmektedirler. Çünkü hem kadınlar hem de erkekler ortak stres kaynaklarıyla karşılaşmasının yanı sıra kadınlar ayrıca kariyer geliştirmede engeller, cinsiyete ilişkin kalıp yargılar, birden fazla rol ve ayrımcılık gibi stres kaynaklarına maruz kalmaktadırlar (Gyllensten ve Palmer, 2005, s. 272).…”

“…Sonuç olarak yaşanan ve algılanan iş stresinde cinsiyet farklılığının olmadığını belirlemişlerdir. Diğer bazı araştırmalarda ise çalışanların stres kaynaklarının medeni duruma (Erdoğan vd., 2009;Decker ve Borgen, 1993;Zukri ve Noor, 2010), yaşa (Erdoğan vd., 2009;Decker ve Borgen, 1993;Zukri ve Noor, 2010), çalışma süresine (Argon ve Ateş, 2007;Barhem vd., 2004) ve cinsiyete (Decker ve Borgen, 1993;Gyllensten ve Palmer, 2005) göre farklılık gösterdiği bulunmuştur. Dolayısıyla kişilik özelliklerinin de stres algısı ve yaşantısına katkıda bulunabileceği ve A tipi olarak tanımlanan bireylerin sıradan olayları bile stres verici olarak algılayabildikleri dikkate alındığında demografik özellikleri ile stres kaynakları arasındaki ilişkinin A tipi kişilik puanları kontrol edilerek incelenmesine ihtiyaç olduğu düşünülmektedir.…”

La santé des femmes au travail en France

“…Les ouvrières subissent en outre (pour 59% d'entre elles) un rythme de travail imposé par le déplacement d'un produit ou la cadence d'une machine. Leur travail est fréquemment 4 On pourra aussi se référer à Gyllensten et Palmer (2005), cité par Soares (2008).…”

Organizational culture and its relationship with employee stress, productivity, and enjoyment of work

“…Gender is a common focus in organizational research, and has been linked with variables such as employee experiences of stress (Gyllensten & Palmer, 2005), job satisfaction (Hodson, 1989), perceptions of organizational fairness (Barak, Cherin, & Berkman, 1998), and productivity (Leahey, 2006). Moreover, gender differences have been explored among variables such as workplace values (Rowe & Snizek, 1995) and social and workplace influence tactics (Carli, 1999).…”

“…However, one study has reported that gender is related to enjoyment of work; sometimes men are more satisfied with their jobs than women and sometimes women are more satisfied than men (Rast & Tourani, 2012). With respect to stress, much research identifies that males and females differ in levels of work-related stress, with females having higher levels of stress than males (Cohen & Janicki-Deverts, 2012;Watson, Goh, & Sawang, 2015), although several studies have reported no gender differences (Gyllensten & Palmer, 2005). However, past research has not controlled for organization of employment, which may have confounded their results.…”