Gender Differences in Occupational Stress Among Professionals in the Construction Industry

Abstract

There is accumulating evidence that stress levels among construction professionals are increasing and that this is manifesting itself in the form of unsafe working practices, higher turnover, lower morale, and poorer performance. However, there has been no research into the influence of gender on stress levels in the construction industry. This is despite evidence that the underrepresentation of women may produce higher levels of stress among this part of the workforce. To redress this deficiency, this paper investigates whether there are differences in sources and levels of stress between male and female professionals in the construction industry. The results indicate that overall, men experience slightly higher levels of stress than women. Although there are common sources of stress for both men and women, there are also some differences. In particular, men appear to suffer more stress in relation to risk taking, disciplinary matters, implications of mistakes, redundancy, and career progression. In contrast, the factors that cause most stress for women were opportunities for personal development, rates of pay, keeping up with new ideas, business travel, and the accumulative effect of minor tasks. These differences reflect women’s traditional and continued subjugation in the construction industry.