Women in the Workplace- A Tough Balancing Act? A Study of Gender-based Comparisons of Job Stress, Job Satisfaction, and Work-Life Balance in Select Indian Private Sector Employees

Description

Page: 390-395

Moumita Mukherjee (Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts & Social Studies, St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata)

The present study explores potentially varying experiences of men and women, with respect to work-life balance, job stress, and job satisfaction. 120 participants (52 females, 68 males), working in private sector organizations in Kolkata, were administered Job Stress Scale (Parker & DeCotiis, 1983); Job Satisfaction Scale (Singh & Sharma, 2006); and Work-Life Balance Scale (Pareek & Purohit, 2018). Statistical analyses involved Pearson’s Product Moment Correlations to investigate the bivariate correlations between the three key variables, and the Independent Samples t-test for gender comparisons. Findings revealed statistically significant negative correlations between job stress and job satisfaction, job stress and work-life balance, and statistically significant positive correlation between work-life balance and job satisfaction. This would imply that while stress may be a routine part of life its potential to affect one’s degree of fulfilment with their work life, and links to one’s ability to manage the often-warring demands of personal and work life may be worth serious consideration. In addition, statistically significant gender differences in job stress and work-life balance, both indicate the scale of burdens experientially heavier on women. Larger implications of the study lie in its potential applications in designing, establishing, and maintaining a healthy organizational culture sensitive to the multifaceted burdens for women in the workplace and conducive to more humane policies and practices for better employee retention.