Gender: a risk factor for occupational stress in the architectural profession?

Abstract

There is significant evidence that those working in construction are at risk of poor health and well‐being due to long working hours, job insecurity, poor work–life balance, low professional worth and temporary teams. There is also a disparate body of evidence which highlights the discrimination experienced by women working in the construction industry. There is, however, a paucity of research exploring gender differences in occupational health and well‐being within construction. The current research utilizes standardized measures of occupational health and well‐being to identify any gender‐determined differences among a sample of architects. A self‐completion questionnaire was used to assess job satisfaction, physical health problems, work–life conflict and turnover intentions. Female respondents reported significantly lower overall job satisfaction and significantly higher levels of insomnia and constipation, work–life conflict and turnover intentions. Although further work is needed to understand the causal relationships between variables and the nature of the female architects' dissatisfactions and concerns, the suggestion that women working in the architectural profession are at risk of poorer occupational health and well‐being than their male colleagues will be of concern to a profession seeking to embrace diversity.