Occupational stress : a survey of women managers in Malaysia

There is always a growing interest among researchers in examining stress experienced by employed married women as these women try to balance the demands of work and juggle their roles in the family. The aims of this research are to identify major sources of stress experienced by women in all levels of management (including supervisory, junior, middle and senior manager), examine the stress outcomes (behavioral and health), compare as well as isolate those major findings that women reported with those of their male counterparts. In analyzing the level of occupational stress women managers faced as compared to male managers, other factors taken into consideration are their coping abilities, management styles and also Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern. The sample consists of 63 female managers and 37 male managers, selected randomly from three industries namely banking/ finance, hotel/ hospitality and business services sector, all located within the area of Klang Valley. Overall, the major sources of stress and the effects upon the health of female managers, compared with male managers are identified. Comprehensive models and figures depict clearly the sources of work stress that are problems for women in contrast to men managers, whereby all these pressures contributed to manifestations of psychosomatic symptoms and poorer work performance by women managers. It can be concluded that, cumulatively, women managers are experiencing significantly higher pressure stemming from home, work and social factors than are men managers; Women managers are also facing greater number of stress outcomes (behavioral and health) than are men managers