STUDY OF STRESS AMONGST THE INDIAN WOMEN EXECUTIVES

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

The twenty first century woman is not afraid of choosing new horizons and paths to express herself and show to the world that she is as good as, if not better than a man. By being gainfully employed, she is trying to be independent economically as well as psychologically. She is living the life of her choice, accomplishing her own social status as well as balancing a harmonious family existence.

The path is not easy for her, as social stigmas and traditional norms of the society often act as barriers. Even Indian mythological scriptures though respecting the womenfolk, do not encourage or depict their independence. There is no mention of a self reliant female in epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. Also the western fairy tales have shown girls as pretty young things waiting for their prince charming to come to their rescue by fighting all odds. Women are expected to behave in a similar manner in real life, taking a backseat to the family.

Women are entering the workforce in great numbers in the last two decades, but little has changed in terms of how they are viewed in the male dominated organizations. At work, women have to constantly prove themselves capable, which leads to them working under additional pressure.

Statistics indicate (NCW, 2008) that employed women tend to take on a greater share of the household chores than employed men. The women find themselves overwhelmed by the continuous struggle with self-concept, social taboos and family responsibilities. Therefore, while juggling the demands of both home and work, women are likely to encounter different levels of stress at various junctures in their lives. But with the influx of more women in the employment market in India, we see favourable changes in the established norms at the workplace for the fairer sex.

Women Executives Women executives are defined as women above 18 years of age holding gainful employment (not menial labour) whether fulltime or part time, working in organizations in permanent or temporary capacity and drawing salary which is commensurate with their employment. Women in Workforce Looking at the population profile, India is today the youngest nation with an average age of 25.1 years (Census of India, 2011). India has emerged as the 4th strongest nation after US, Japan, China in terms of purchasing power (International Monetary Fund, 2010).

Almost about 48% of the total population of India consists of females (Women in India, Statistical Indicators, 2011). A larger percentage of this section is now able to benefit from the educational and training facilities available in India. So, it would be a sheer waste of resources, if a major chunk of the young population comprising of women are not utilized productively in the growth of the nation.

Number of women in the formal employment sector in India is about 15% compared to Botswana(38%), Chile(36%), Jamaica(50%), New Zealand(48%), Spain(37%) and Thailand 45%). Recent trends show that in jobs like IT womens participation is increasing. According to a report by Times of India in 2005, in the ITES-BPO1 sector, the employee ratio is more in favour of women 31: 69 (male:female). The ratio of women workers in Wipro rose from 18.75% in April 2004 to 27% in August 2005. The percentage of female employees in Infosys rose from 17% in 2002 to 19% in 2003 to 22% in 2004 and 24% in 2005. This indicates a rise in the opportunities for employment for women especially in the ITES sector. But these are mechanical and monotonous jobs where decision making is not critical. According to UNESCO, the percentage of women managers in the US has been steadily rising from 26% in 1980 to about 43% now (UNESCO, Paris 2011). The same cannot be said about India.

The number of women enrolled and graduating from management institutions has gone from 25% to 39% in 2009 in India (International Development Association, IDA, 2010) but their participation in managerial/administrative position is still a measly 2.3% in India as compared USA (43%) , Australia (33%), UK (17%), Sri Lanka (17%) and Japan (9%). This is in spite of the fact that India is far ahead of many developing nations in providing legislation and introducing several positive initiatives for women. The policies in India are directed towards women being an important resource to national development rather than a target of welfare program, yet the impact of these policies in improving the socio economic status of women has been limited. 1. ITES- Information Technology enabled services BPO- Business Process Outsourcing

This poor representation of women in managerial/administrative positions may reflect the unwillingness of top management to break the glass ceiling. Morrison and Van Glinow (1990) described the glass ceiling as a barrier so subtle that it is transparent, yet it is so strong that it prevents women and minorities from moving up the management ladder.

Several studies, both academic and governmental, have shown that despite the efforts to increase diversity, women still face the glass-ceiling when it comes to top management jobs in the private sector. Buddhapriya (2009) in her study of women professionals in India, found that there was a definite lack of gender sensitive policies by the employers which proved to be a significant barrier in the career advancement of the women professionals. As reported by Times of India (Mar 8, 2010), in a recent global study done by Bain & Company, women entered the workforce in large numbers, but steadily vaporize from the higher echelons of organization hierarchy. The data shows that in 2009, only 3% of Fortune 500 companies had a female CEO. In Europe, women constitute just 12% of the boards of directors of FTSE 100 companies, while 25% of these companies still have all-male boards. The situation is worse in India there are only 5% women directors on the boards of 8,000 companies listed on the BSE, of which only 2% are independent women directors. Research by Forum for Women in Leadership (WILL Forum, 2008) establishes that the glass ceiling exists for women executives at all levels, with over 75% of women executives in corporate India stagnating for 7 to 15 years in the mid-level executive positions. In a report marking International Women's Day in 2008, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) found that women are joining the workforce in record numbers but they are still not paid as much as men, are not educated as well as them and are more likely to get fired, causing stress for women workers as they have to strive harder to make their mark. The

report further stated that around 81.8 million or 6.6 percent women were stuck in "low productivity jobs" where they received less money than men for doing the same work. They experienced a "persistent gap in status, job security, wages and education" compared to their male colleagues. In fact, a womens career development does not just lag behind that of men but may proceed in a completely different manner (Larwood and Gutek, 1987). There are hardly any studies which elaborate on the womens varying life experiences in relation to the career development. Flanders (1994), noted that the pattern of education, full-time career,

retirement is based on the typical working lives of men but there are no typical working pattern for modern women. Women by nature give birth to children and thus their life cycles are vastly different than those of men, but society and organisations continue to force women to conform to the traditional stereotype for male workers. Talking about modern times, at least in urban India, women are getting more access to education and better career prospects. But in Indian families, marriage is still the focal point for a lot of career-related decisions. Most of the Indian families plan their daughters future with her marriage in mind, contrary to their sons future, which is growth and career oriented. For the women who are employed, even though the share of responsibilities in the office may be balanced, there is a skewed distribution of work at home. Managing multiple roles and responsibilities that arise from work and family is a constant challenge to the working women. There has been a lot of research on who is more stressed, men or women and there have been varied responses. Although in general, it is the women who compromise their careers, yet, there are women who have successfully managed both the family and their long term careers. Some research shows that the stress is more influenced by family than the work concerns (Frone, Russell and Cooper , 1992). This gives rise to the need to study what causes

stress in some women and not in others. Lee, Seccombe and Shehan (1991) found that married women score high on well-being, which gives rise to the question that: Is there a relationship between the family characteristics such as marital, parental and family status, and the work stress experienced by the women executive?

Conceptual Framework

Definitions of Stress

The word stress was derived from the Latin word "stringi", which means, "to be drawn tight" and was popularly used in the fourteenth century to mean hardship, adversity or affliction , Lazarus and Lazarus (1994). In physical science, the term stress referred to the internal force generated within a solid body by action of any external force , (Hollister, 2008). Stress has been defined in many different ways by depending on its use by psychologists, doctors, management consultants or others. One problem with a single definition is that stress is made up of many things: It is a family of related experiences, pathways, responses and outcomes caused by a range of different events or circumstances. Different people experience different aspects and identify with different definitions.

As early as 1936, Selye defined stress as a dynamic condition in which an individual was confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or demand related to what he or she desired and for which the outcome was perceived to be both uncertain and important. Selye (1956) later discovered that stress differs from other physical responses in that stress was stressful whether the one receives good or bad news, whether the impulse is positive or negative. He documented that stress was "the non-specific response of the body to any demand". It did not

matter whether or not the stress was caused by pleasant or unpleasant things. It did not matter whether or not it resulted in good or bad things. Stress was the automatic state that resulted when the body was told to make changes in order to adapt to any demand. The response was driven by hormones flowing throughout the human body. Arnold (1960) defined stress as any condition that disturbed normal functioning. Cofer and Appley (1964) defined stress as the state of an organism where it perceives its well -being was endangered and that it must divert all his energies to its protection. According to Lazarus (1966), stress was a feeling experienced when a person thought that the demands exceeded the personal and social resources the individual was able to mobilize. Wolff, (1968) said that stress was a dynamic state within an organism in response to a demand for adaptations. McGrath (1974) defined stress in terms of tolerance, stressful environment which were those that were outside the normal tolerance limit of daily function at extreme level. Caplan (1964) and Marshall and Cooper (1979) gave that stress was a stimulus or situation to which man reacted with learned coping mechanism activated by homeostasis principle and fuelled by energies which were in finite supply. Robbins(1995), defined stress as a dynamic condition in which an individual was confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or demand related to what he/she desired and for which the outcome was perceived to be both uncertain and important.

Responses to Stress Researchers state that, stress was the "wear and tear" human bodies experience as they adjust to the ever-changing environment. It has physical and emotional effect on people and can create positive or negative feelings. As a positive influence, stress can help compel men to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective. As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn

can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. With the death of a loved one, the birth of a child, a job promotion, or a new relationship, stress is experienced which required adjustment in life. In so adjusting to different circumstances, stress can help or hinder, depending on how people react to it. Common stress reactions include tension, irritability, inability to concentrate, and a variety of physical symptoms that include headache and a fast heartbeat. Cannon (1932) and Selye (1956) identified different responses to stress. These two types of instinctive stress response that were important are : the short-term Fight-or-Flight response and the long-term General Adaptation Syndrome. The first was a basic survival instinct, while the second was a long-term effect of exposure to stress. A third mechanism comes from the way that the situations are interpreted. 1. Fight-or-Flight Early work on stress (Cannon, 1932) established the existence of the well-known fight-orflight response. It showed that when an animal experiences a shock or perceives a threat, it quickly releases hormones that help it to survive. These hormones helped them to run faster and fight harder. They increase heart rate and blood pressure, delivering more oxygen and blood sugar to power important muscles. They increase sweating in an effort to cool these muscles, and help them stay efficient.

2. General Adaptation Syndrome Hans Selye (1956) took a different approach from Cannon. Starting with the observation that different diseases and injuries to the body seemed to cause the same symptoms in patients, he identified a general response (the General Adaptation Syndrome) with which the body reacts to a major stimulus. While the Fight-or-Flight response worked in the very short term, the General Adaptation Syndrome operated in response to longer-term exposure to causes of stress. Selye identified that when pushed to extremes, animals reacted in three stages:

i. Alarm reaction: the organisms reaction when it is suddenly exposed to diverse stimuli to which it is not adapted. The reaction has two phases: shock phase and counter shock phase. When we are surprised or threatened, we have an immediate physical reaction, often called the Fight-or-Flight reaction. ii. Resistance: As we become used to the stress levels, we initially become more resistant to disease, which leads us to believe we can easily adapt to these more stressful situations. iii. Exhaustion: Eventually reality kicks in and our bodies give up on trying to maintain a high level of stress. Parts of the body literally start to break down and we become very unwell. If we continue to fight this situation, we may even die.

Selye established this with hundreds of experiments performed on laboratory rats. However, he also quoted research during World War II with bomber pilots. Once they had completed a few missions over enemy territory, these pilots usually settled down and performed well. After many missions, however, pilot fatigue would set in as they began to show neurotic manifestations. In the business environment, this exhaustion is seen in burnout. Stressors Events that provoke stress are called stressors, of which there are two types. There are internal (systematic) stressors and external (processive) stressors. Internal stressors can either be physical (e.g. presence of infections or inflammation which may cause an imbalance in an individual's state of health) or psychological (as in worrying about an event that may or may not occur). External stressors can be defined as elements in the environment that may be perceived by an individual as potential threats. These may be in the form of adverse physical conditions such as extremely hot or cold temperatures, pain, extremely loud noises or excessively bright lights. Or it may also be the presence of stressful psychological environments such as poor working conditions or abusive and problematic relationships.

Organizational stress

This comes under the category of External stress. The concept of stress due to occupation, was introduced by Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek and Rosenberg in 1964 , when they implied that that social-psychological factors in the contemporary work environment had major effects on the physical and psychological well-being of the person. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (NIOSH), 1995 concluded that repetitive stress injuries tend to be caused by a combination of job-related factors rather than a single factor. These jobrelated factors include job complexity, workload, social support from peers, supervisors and family and role clarity. NIOSH also gave a model for stress as given below: Figure 1.1 The Job Stress Model Individual factors (stress moderators) Job stressors Acute effects illness

Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),1995

Factors in Organizational Stress Various researchers (Pareek, 1983; Mital, 1995; Srivasatav,1997; Lansisalmi et.al.,2000; Boles et. al.,2003; Srivastava,2006;Williams et. al., 2007), had identified two organizational factors causing stress as Role stress and Organizational Climate. These are discussed in detail in the literature review along with the studies on stress in women. Demographical factors which influence stress in women were identified as Marital status; age; education;

socioeconomic status which comprises of income, job status, designation; number of people in the household; number of children above and below 18; and the industry.

Work Stress is different from work pressure. Pressure can be due to the work environment, but work stress arises because of gap in the ability of the employees to cope with the job. It can also arise from the perception of support from supervisors, and also when they feel they have little control on their jobs. Pressure when it becomes in excess can also lead to job stress.

Pressure & Performance the Inverted U

Harvard's Robert M. Yerkes, M.D. and John D. Dodson, M.D. first described the relation between stress and performance in 1908. At optimum levels, stress increases both efficiency and performance. But when situations produce excessive stress, a threshold is exceeded. This stress overload is associated with diminishing performance and efficiency. This gives an inverted U curve and this relationship is known as the Yerkes-Dodson Law.(Figure 1.2) This was further substantiated by research done by Andersen (1975), Karau & Kelley (1992) and Baumann (1998) and Onyemah, (2008).

Figure 1.2 The inverted U curve of stress and performance

Source: Yerkes- Dodsen (1908)

Other research (Maule & Svenson, 1993, Maravelas, 2005) has shown that stress reduces peoples ability to deal with large amounts of information. Both decision-making and creativity are impaired because people are unable to take account of all the information available. This inability accounts for the common observation that highly stressed people will persist in a course of action even when better alternatives are available. It also explains why anxious people perform best when they are put under little additional stress, while calm people may need additional pressure to produce a good performance.

Importance of stress

Stress as stated above, can cause negative effect on health. Recent research suggests that anywhere from two-thirds to 90 percent of illness is stress-related. Fifty-five percent of

Americans report being stressed at work, and 25 percent of U.S. workers miss 16 days of work each year because of stress (Annual Gallup Poll, 2000). There is no such statistic available as such for India, but humans being the same everywhere, we can assume that the effect of stress would be similar in Indian context too. Thus managing stress becomes important.

Women and Stress

Work stressors can affect all employees, but may have unique consequences for women executives who carry varying responsibilities in their work and at home.

Women managers react differently to male managers in terms of stress outcomes (Davidson, Cooper & Baldini, 1995). Nelson and Quick (1985) stated that women managers experienced greater sources of stress than men. This was supported by a number of studies which indicated that female managers, particularly those at the lower levels of management, experienced much higher pressures and poorer mental and physical well-being than their male counterparts. In addition, sources of work stress were experienced differently by male and female managers. This was because of the result of the interaction of these stressors with extra-organizational demands. For example, factors such as responsibility for people, relocations, promotion, and nights away on business, were not particularly strong predictors of ill health (i.e. cardiovascular risk, physical or mental health) among male managers, they were significant factors for female managers (Davidson & Cooper, 1983; Lundberg & Frankenheuser, 1999). The negative effects of stress did not only appear in terms of health outcomes, but behavioral changes also resulted from the stress process. Behavioural consequences, such as smoking

and drinking, again differ between men and women, with women tending to engage in more destructive behaviours than men (Hammarstrom & Janlert,1994).

Purpose of the study

This study attempts to identify the specific organizational stressors that contributed to employee stress in women executives. Researchers in the area of occupational stress have found that stress reduction strategies produce positive results. By recognising specific variable that contribute significantly to stress, organizations can develop procedures or interventions that helps to reduce the stress amongst women. As the factors which effect men are invariably different from those which effect women, this study helps to identify factors effecting women only. Previous studies have shown that work stress has negative consequences on an individuals health and safety. Costs associated with organizational stress in terms of workdays lost, absenteeism and health costs had significant implications for the organizations. (Rees, 1995, Young and Cooper, 1995) Therefore because of the potential detrimental causes of stress and the growing number of women in the workforce, it has become imperative for organizations to implement policies to reduce the stress.

By demonstrating that the organization is making an effort towards reducing stress related factors for women employees, organizations may increase their chances of attracting women employees and also reducing the propensity of female employees to leave the organization. This would reduce the cost of training new female employees as the attrition gets reduced. In the order to broaden the scope of consideration of many influences impacting women as they struggle to balance family and work, this study attempted to explore the ways marital status, age, socio-economic factors such as education, job, salary etc., are associated with the

job stress. The study also attempted to identify the various sources of stress which the women professionals experience while doing their job. Also, if there was an influence of the type of industries the women was working in, and the degree of stress experienced by her and the moderating effect of the demographics on the level of stress.

This may be useful for adapting a recruitment process that would identify those individuals with certain demographics that would be most likely to survive and stay in the organization.

Interventions such as workshops could also be developed to reduce the stress levels of individuals who are of conflicting demographic or are predisposed to stress due to their disposition (Schulman,1995) by assisting in an attitudinal shift.

Thus the research undertaken would help increase the ability to recognize, and act on, any negative demands in female employees working lives can allow them to survive and prosper alongside their male counterparts, helping them to contribute to the economy. The study broadly attempts to empirically investigate how stress is associated with the various family characteristics and socio economic variable. Thus the principal objectives of this research are:

To examine the organizational causes of occupational stress in women executives To assess the family characteristics and their influence on stress in correlation with the work related variables. The family characteristics such as age, marital status, number of children and size of family were taken as the independent variable and stress was the dependent variable. To assess the socio-economic factors and its influence on stress in correlation with the work related variables. The socio-economic factors such as job status, education,

work experience, income, designation and number of years in the present job were taken as the independent variable and stress was the dependent variable. To assess the relationship of organizational stress with the different industries women worked in.
To develop a strategy for Human resources department to engage more women

employees as well as to find ways to reduce the organizational stress felt by them.