Gender, workplace support, and perceived job demands in the US and Indian context

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the under-researched dynamics of gender, workplace support, and perceived job demands in two different contexts, the United States and India.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws from two studies conducted in different contexts (the United States and India) via different methodological approaches (quantitative and qualitative, respectively). In Study I of this paper, data was collected using questionnaires from a nationally representative sample of adult workers in the United States. In Study II, interviews were conducted with 48 workers in India, selected using convenience sampling.FindingsIt was found that both in the United States and India, women perceived considerably greater job demands than men. In terms of workplace support, both the studies found that workplace culture and supervisors’ support influenced the perception of job demands, but the same was not true for coworkers’ support, which mainly helped in coping rather than actually reducing the perception of job demands.Research implicationsThe article contributes to research by concluding that job demands as a construct are not clearly segregated from gender demands or expectations, especially in the way women “perceive” it. Women construct job demands as “job-family” demands and workplace support as “job-family” support. Moreover, being a woman in the workplace, women feel the “burden” of gender.Practical implicationsIt would be useful for organizations and policy makers to understand that women remain “conscious” of their gender in the workplace, and for them, the meaning of job demands and workplace support are “job-family” demands and “work-family” support, respectively.Social implicationsThis research intends to contribute toward thinking about gender relations and empowerment of people within organizational and work settings from a new light.Originality/valueThe present study provides an alternative way of thinking about gender, job demands, and workplace support. Its value underlies in the way it raises the voices of women workers.