Exploring stress and conformity to feminine norms as drivers of the glass ceiling effect. A study among female employees in the Technological Sector

Amarante, Clara (2019) Exploring stress and conformity to feminine norms as drivers of the glass ceiling effect. A study among female employees in the Technological Sector. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

There has been an increased interest in the last few decades in the study of gender inequality and in particular on its implications in the workplace.

Most research has focused on investigating whether concepts such as the glass ceiling effect actually exists. However, few studies have focused on what are its possible drivers. For that reason, this paper aims to investigate whether stress and conformity to feminine norms are possibly two of the invisible drivers of the glass ceiling effect. This will be explored by measuring if there is a relationship between the participant’s level of conformity to feminine norms and their level of stress, and by measuring the existence of a relationship between their position (managers/non managers) and both their levels of conformity to feminine norms and stress.

Through a cross sectional quantitative research, 30 females in managerial positions and 63 females in regular positions, all of them working in the Technological sector, completed the Conformity to Feminine Norms Inventory (CFNI) (used to determine their perception of female social gender) and The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) (used to measure their level of stress).

The findings show that there is no relation between the levels of conformity and the levels of stress of the females in this sample, neither are there significant differences in the results obtained by both managers and non-managers in either the CFNI nor the PSS-14. In conclusion, the results don’t support the hypothesis suggested in this study, that is, it cannot be said that stress and conformity to feminine norms are drivers of the glass ceiling effect. Hence, more research is needed to determine what its drivers actually are which will help to understand why it happens and, in turn, will help to address the issue.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Specific Industries > I.T. Industry H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Issues of Labour and Work > Classes of Labour > Women and Work H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Industrial Psychology > Workplace Stress
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
Depositing User:	Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín
Date Deposited:	15 Oct 2019 13:47
Last Modified:	15 Oct 2019 13:47
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/3906

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