SA's working women at more risk of toxic stress
Unique challenges faced by women in the workplace and their greater share of juggling work and household responsibilities raise their risk of toxic stress, with negative impacts on both their productivity and the organisation’s performance.
Women and men not only respond differently to stress, but more women are reporting increased levels of stress, and stress-related disorders such as depression and PTSD are more common in women.[i]
While a moderate level of stress is beneficial for productivity and motivation (eustress, or “healthy stress”), when the intensity of stress becomes overwhelming, more frequent or longer-lasting, the result is distress, or toxic stress, with negative physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioural impacts, said Prof Renata Schoeman, head of the MBA in Healthcare Leadership programme at Stellenbosch Business School.
“The negative impact of (dis)stress on productivity and organisational outcomes is significant. Stress-related symptoms can contribute to absenteeism, staff turnover, late-coming and declining quality of work, and may lead to negative peer relationships, disengagement or presenteeism,” she said.
The economic impact is significant – one study found that the productivity losses of absenteeism due to depression equated to 0.62% of SA’s GDP, with depression-linked presenteeism costing the economy 4.23% of GDP.[ii]
Writing in the 2024 Women’s Report by Stellenbosch Business School and the SA Board for People Practices (SABPP), Prof Schoeman said despite greater focus on corporate mental health awareness and interventions post the Covid-19 pandemic, women’s stress levels have continued to rise, and stigmas around workplace mental health persist.
Chronic stress can cause or worsen mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and mood disorders, and/or culminate in burnout. The prevalence of burnout and its root cause in chronic workplace stress has led to the World Health Organisation classifying it as an exclusively occupational phenomenon.[iii]
She said while women’s burnout levels have gradually reduced since the pandemic, half of the respondents in the 2024 Deloitte Women@Work survey (which included South Africa) reported that their stress levels had increased over the past year. Half also reported being concerned about their mental health, while a third took time off from work due to mental health challenges.[iv]
Most women said they did not receive adequate mental health support at work, while two-thirds were not comfortable to disclose mental health difficulties due to concerns about their career progression, discrimination, job security, and previous negative experiences after disclosing mental health issues.
Prof Schoeman highlighted a number of reasons for women’s greater risk of workplace stress becoming chronic, toxic stress.
Women are more likely to be employed in lower-paying jobs or self-employed[v] and they have less job security, forming the majority of shift and contract workers and often juggling multiple jobs along with bearing most of the load of household responsibilities.
One in five women are subject to overtime work, which increases the effects of stress as well as impacting negatively on motivation and productivity.[vi] The Deloitte survey found that only a quarter of women who regularly worked extra hours described their mental health as “good”, compared to half of those who typically worked only their contracted hours.
Prof Schoeman also pointed to a concerning increase in the gender pay gap – women’s share of earnings declined from 89c for every rand earned by men in 2008, to 78c in 2021.[vii]
“Furthermore, workplace harassment and discrimination continue to undermine the progress of women in the workplace. The Deloitte report also highlights threats to women’s safety while commuting to and from work, and in the workplace, with 10% reporting harassment during their commute and 43% reporting harassment and micro-aggressions at work during the previous year,” she said.
More than a third of women chose not to report the incidents, with many fearing that this would jeopardise their careers.
She said psychological safety at work, an openness to mental health discussions, and flexible work conditions contribute to less stress – but only 5% of women[viii] reported working in such positive environments, she said.
“Women value relationships, recognition and respect at work, while men tend to place greater value on remuneration and achievements. This underscores studies that have found that women with supportive colleagues and supervisors experience less work stress,” Prof Schoeman said.
She said that greater recognition was needed of the differences in men’s and women’s responses to stress, and the differing impacts of stress, and that workplace policies and wellness programmes needed to better reflect women’s mental and physical health needs.
“Women face unique and additional challenges in and outside the workplace, including inequality, discrimination, and unsafe environments, as well as a disproportionate additional load in the form of child- and parental care and domestic responsibilities.
“It is vital that organisations prioritise women’s health in the workplace by ensuring psychologically safe spaces where women are included and supported – not only allowing them to thrive in their careers but also impacting positively on the company bottom line and the country’s economy,” Prof Schoeman said.
What can employers do?
Prof Schoeman said organisations needed to recognise the stress factors that affect women disproportionately in the workplace, and take steps to address and reduce these.
“First and foremost is the role of leaders in creating psychological safety, together with an environment in which mental health problems are not stigmatised and mental well-being is supported.”
She also recommends:
- Raising awareness and educating employees about stress, the “red flags” of mental health difficulties, ways to manage it, and the dangers of unaddressed stress.
- Establishing accommodating workplace practices and family-friendly policies that enhance work-life boundaries and enable women to fulfil their other roles (e.g. childcare, parental care, and household chores) while also being able to tend to self-care.
- Ensuring that supervisors and employee wellness programmes are aware of the warning signs of distress and possible mental health difficulties.
- Encouraging women to access professional support without fear of discrimination.
- Eradicating unsafe and non-inclusive workplace environments where women fear for their physical safety and experience harassment and bullying, with zero-tolerance policies.
What can women do?
Prof Schoeman highlighted the need for women to be active participants in their own health through self-care, seeking social support and accessing professional intervention when needed.
She also recommends regular, moderate exercise, getting enough sleep, and a nutritious diet, in combination with mindful eating, as important in combatting stress.
Note to editors:
The Women’s Report, now in its 12th edition, offers accessible, evidence-based insights into the working lives and experiences of women in Africa, to inform HR practitioners, line managers and academics on topical issues facing women at work.
The 2024 Women’s Report focused on women’s health and the workplace can be downloaded at https://www.womensreport.africa/
Articles focus on the impact of stress on women, and improving support for female employees through pregnancy, breast cancer and menopause.
REFERENCES
[i] Schoeman R. 2024. Women and stress in the workplace – eustress or distress? In Women’s Report 2024, https://www.womensreport.africa/wr2024/
Psychology Today. 2024. Men and Women Experience Stress Differently. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-science-of-self/202403/men-and-women-experience-stress-differently
[ii] Schoeman R. 2024. Women and stress in the workplace – eustress or distress? In Women’s Report 2024, https://www.womensreport.africa/wr2024/
[iii] WHO. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
[iv] Deloitte Global. 2024. Women @ Work: A Global Outlook. https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-shared/docs/collections/2024/deloitte-women-at-work-2024-a-global-outlook.pdf?dl=2
[v] Statistics South Africa (2023). Equality in the job market still eludes women in SA. https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=16533
[vi] Schoeman R. 2024. Women and stress in the workplace – eustress or distress? In Women’s Report 2024, https://www.womensreport.africa/wr2024/
[vii] Pleace, M., Clance, M., & Nicholls, N. (2023). The gender wage gap in South Africa: Insights from administrative tax data. https://sa-tied.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/FINAL%20WP%20219.pdf
[viii] KPMG. (2023). Women in leadership: South African perspective. https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/za/pdf/2023/Women%20in%20Leadership_South%20Africa_11%20Aug%202023.pdf
