Psychosocial Risk Management in Business and Global Development Goals: Gender Equality
Gender equality is not just a basic human right; It is also a necessary foundation for a peaceful, profitable and sustainable world. In 18 countries around the world, men can legally prevent their wives from working; In 39 countries, boys and girls do not have equal inheritance rights; 49 countries do not have laws protecting women against domestic violence. Although women have made important strides in political offices around the world, 23.7 percent of women working in national parliaments still draws an unequal picture. The 5th of 17 items in the Sustainable Development Goals aims to ensure gender equality and empower women.
Women continue to lag behind in accessing management positions due to visible and invisible discrimination in the workplace. One of the main roots of this discrimination is gender stereotypes. Many women managers face difficulties in balancing work and private life responsibilities, which can be psychologically challenging for women, by constantly striving to fulfill their private life responsibilities, especially in their mother and caregiver roles.
Gender inequality in the workplace is an important issue to consider as you grow and develop your business. Against gender inequality, your business should take steps to make your workplace as equal, inclusive and diverse as possible. Work The aim of gender equality in place is to achieve broadly equal opportunities and outcomes for women and men, not results that are exactly the same for everyone.
Gender equality in the workplace can be achieved when people, regardless of gender, can access and enjoy equal rewards, resources and opportunities. These conditions basically include:
- Organizations that provide equal pay for work of equal or comparable value,
- Removing barriers to women's full and equal participation in the workforce
- Access to all professions and sectors, regardless of gender, including leadership roles
- Eliminate gender-based discrimination, particularly in relation to family and care responsibilities.
When the conditions are met, a number of benefits stand out for businesses aiming to maintain gender equality in the workplace:
A positive organizational culture. A gender-equal work environment where all employees feel respected and valued creates an overall more positive workplace for all your employees. When you have a gender-equal environment, your employees will likely find that their colleagues have talents and strengths that they lack. Appreciating these differences will help foster an atmosphere of respect among the team.
More innovation and creativity. People of different genders bring unique talents, strengths and skills that can foster collaboration and result in a stimulating, creative environment. Businesses are seeing that policies based on gender equality can lead to more innovation in the workplace.
A strong reputation. Being conscious of promoting gender equality in the workplace helps build a great business reputation with the outside world. People with similar values may want to work for you, increasing the likelihood that you will have a positive and productive workforce.
Improved conflict resolution. Strong communication skills among employees are a key factor for enterprise-wide success. People of different genders naturally communicate differently. When you combine these different communication styles in a single work environment, quality conflict resolution is more easily achieved.
Psychosocial Risk Management for Gender Equality
As the number of women participating in the workforce increases, the existence of gender dimension in occupational health and safety has become more important. However, there are studies or practices where the gender dimension is not included in Occupational Health and Safety, the majority of which still only accepts men as a measure (androcentrism-focused). Therefore, there is a clear need to consider gender implications in the assessment of psychosocial risks in Occupational Health and Safety.
Some research that specifically addresses this issue shows that working women experience worse psychosocial working conditions (in terms of poor job control and poor career opportunities) compared to men, and that such risks can place more strain on the health and well-being of female workers. Men experience more job demand, more effort, greater commitment and lower social support at work, while women work with lower job control and lower rewards.
Men and women are strongly divided into different job sectors and occupy different positions in the job hierarchy. Women are more likely than men to hold low-paying jobs and are less likely to hold managerial positions. In addition, women still do most of the unpaid work at home, and when paid and unpaid work are added together, it appears that women work longer than men.
Women are more likely to experience health problems such as work-related stress, musculoskeletal disorders and dermatitis, while men are more likely to experience accidents and health problems due to exposure to physical factors such as noise. It is observed that the safety and health problems that men are exposed to are more visible. The fact that Occupational Health and Safety has historically focused on male workers and the traditional industries in which they work is among the main reasons why risks to male workers are handled more prominently than risks affecting the health and safety of female workers.
International, multifactorial, interdisciplinary studies are important for understanding how different aspects of work life affect psychosocial health in different genders. Gender-based risk factors are included in the first international standard for Psychological Health and Safety and Psychosocial Risk Management published by ISO in 2021. Considering gender equality in the development of occupational health and safety policies and prevention strategies is an important step to make visible the psychosocial risk factors specific to male and female workers in order to identify OHS risks and implement effective solutions.
Management systems that include psychosocial risk management offer concrete planning and practices to businesses to achieve gender equality goals set in sustainable development goals.
If you want more resources on creating a psychologically healthy and safe workplace, To our bulletin where Psychosocial risks are explained in occupational health and safety systems look at.
References
Castaño, AM, Fontanil, Y., & García-Izquierdo, AL (2019). “Why can't I become a manager?”—A systematic review of gender stereotypes and organizational discrimination. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(10), 1813.
Hamouche, S., & Marchand, A. (2022). Occupational identity, work, psychological distress and gender in management: results from SALVEO study. Gender in Management: An International Journal, (ahead-of-print).
Cifre, E., & Vera, M. (2019). Psychosocial Risks and Health at Work From a Gender Perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1392.
Masike, R., Mwanza, B., & Masiyazi, L. (2014). A gender sensitive framework to safety and health at work. European Scientific Journal, 10(11).
ISO 45003:2021. ISO. (2021, June 8). Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://www.iso.org/standard/64283.html
Promoting gender equality in the workplace [updated for 2022]. Promoting Gender Equality in the Workplace [Updated for 2022]. (2021, January 6). Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/gender-inequality-in-the-workplace
United Nations. (n.d.). Gender equality and women's empowerment. United Nations. Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/
United Nations. (n.d.). Sustainable development goal 5: Gender equality | United Nations in Turkey. United Nations. Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://turkey.un.org/tr/sdgs/5
Workplace gender equality. WGEA. (n.d.). Retrieved June 14, 2022, from https://www.wgea.gov.au/about/workplace-gender equality#:~:text=Workplace%20gender%20equality%20will%20be,of%20women%20in%20the%20workforce
