The impact of gender stereotype-related stress on female education managers: an education management perspective

[摘要] English: The international tendencies regarding career changes result in thetransmutation of social environments, which also imply a shift ingender roles. This paradigm shift effects females in particular, as thetraditional female roles are changing: a process which is accelerated in SouthAfrica by the introduction of gender equity legislation. The new legislationimplies that the non-traditional work opportunities for women have increasedin all sectors of employment and in particular in the education sector as 62.6%of the South African teachers' corps consist of women. Although the abovementioned changes could have positive effects, changes in the workplace couldcause stress as a person's career is one of the greatest sources of stress.The above mentioned changes implies that more women will also holdeducation management positions and that more women will be subjected tocareer stress, which could negatively influence their productivity andperformance. In addition to this, women are also subjected to strain caused bygender stereotyping as a result of patriarchal beliefs. Women seeking equity inthe education management world, might constantly be confronted bystereotypical gender views which could enhance their stress levels and causethem to forfeit management efficiency.Due to a lack of profound research on the stress outcomes of female managers,especially in the field of education, this study aims at amplifying the existingbody of knowledge on the impact of gender-related stress on female educationmanagers to propose guidelines for coping with the potential negative impactsthereof. In order to achieve the above, this study commenced with a literatureoverview on the origin of gender roles and stereotypes and the effect of stressand gender stereotype-related stress on the performance and well-being offemale education managers, as well as the management thereof. It was foundthat socialisation processes and outdated societal traditions gave rise to thestereotypical beliefs held by society and that those beliefs are inculcated byupbringing and reinforced by the school. The literature review revealed thatstress is enhanced by gender stereotyping. In order to cope with the negativeinfluence of stress, the organisation as well as the individual has aresponsibility towards a stress alleviating programme which should includeaspects such as training in management skills to increase self -esteem in orderto fit into non-traditional occupations, to deal with female stereotyping andmale chauvinism.Because the stress levels of female managers, their attitudes towardsegalitarianism and their experiences of gender stereotypes, form the core ofthis study, empirical investigations, consisting of quantitative as well asqualitative investigations were undertaken. Six female education managersfrom diverse cultures and a variety of management levels were selected asparticipants for this study. The Occupational Stress Inventory was used todetermine the stress levels of the participants and the Sex-Role-Egalitarianismquestionnaire to monitor and understand their behaviour outcomes. Thereafterin-depth unstructured interviews were conducted with the six femaleeducation managers to reveal the prejudice and agony they experience due tofemale stereotyping in the education sector. The participants revealed harshexamples of lack of respect, direct gender discrimination, misogyny,patriarchy, sexual and emotional harassment, and many more. They alsorevealed how these practices influence their efficiency as managers, theirphysical conditions and general well-being. In order to cope with stress, theparticipants made use of medication, alcohol, yoga and some exercising, butmost of them found it difficult to manage their stress as they did not have thetime to relax.In the last chapter of the study, the researcher formed a synthesis of thefindings and indicated how female education managers were influenced bystereotyping and the impact it had on their stress levels and work performance. A stress management model was also provided for theempowerment of female education managers in order to curb the increasingburden of stress and thus cultivating an efficient and healthy education workforce.

[发布机构] University of the Free State