Source: E-mail dt.
31.12.2011
Problems
and Personal Consequences faced by the women employees working in Information
Technology (IT) industry with special reference to
Mrs.K.Gunasundari,
Ph.D(PT)
Research Scholar,
and
Dr.
G.Ravindran,
Assistant Professor, PG Department of Commerce,
TK
Abstract
Women in the modern era want to hold her family economically and are
trying to balance her personal and professional life. She is facing a lot of
troubles allied to work, kids and lot of personal problems. There is lot of
psychological problems, inequity she feels at the work and it affects her family
life and profession as well. Women in earlier days stayed at home to look after
their household duties but now they started to maintain both work and home at
the same time. Information Technology (IT) has transformed the way of human
life during the last quarter of this century. The IT industry has great scope
for people as it provides employment to technical and non-technical graduates. High salaries
and social status connected with the IT sector has attracted women to take up
IT jobs, but many suffer from various factors like late working hours, job
related stress creates a lot of physical problems and mental pressure. The
study covers
INTRODUCTION
The information technology (IT) industry has become one of the most
robust industries in the world. Today the IT sector has emerged as a major
global source in the area of growth and employment. The demand for IT services
has increased substantially over the years due to easy accessibility and wide
range products offered by the IT industry. IT industry is a major and fastest growing industry in the
country.
STRENGTH
OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY
The following are some
of the strengths of Indian IT sector:
·
Highly skilled human resources; Quality of work;
·
Initiatives taken by the Government (setting up
Hi-Tech Parks and implementation of e-governance projects); throughout the
country.
·
Set-up of operations by many global players
·
Adopting Quality Standards such as ISO 9000, SEI
CMM etc.
·
English-speaking professionals and Superiority
telecommunications infrastructure.
WOMEN IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY
Women in IT sector have attracted to take up IT jobs
due to attractive high salaries and social status. It is the only industry
which helps women to move to the higher positions in the large number. Huge job
opportunities for educated women in tier II cities and smaller towns. In spite
of growing employment opportunities, the women in the IT sector facing enormous
problems.
·
Mental
health problems like Sleep disturbances, Anxiety, Mental stress,
Fatigue
and Disturbance in life.
·
Physical
health problems Musculoskeletal disorders, Digestive disorders,
Constipation, Eye, voice and hearing Problems, Overweight /obesity, Backache ,Pain
hand/wrists, Shoulder pain, Soreness, Dryness, Blurred vision, light
sensitivity, Headache.
PROBLEMS
FACED BY WOMEN EMPLOYEES IN IT FIELD
·
Physical discomfort and mental
tension.
·
Late working hours, Long working
hours at the desk
·
Job related pressure / stress , Deadlines
to finish project
·
Problem of balancing work at home
and office
·
Mental harassment, Sexual Harassment,
Gender Discrimination, Marital Disputes.
·
Lack of Code of Conduct, Violence
against Women
·
Lack of Self-Esteem and Distressed
State of
REVIEW
OF LITERATURE
The study conducted by
Maria
Angelin and Venkatramaraju (2009) - conducted a survey among
200 women working in different companies in Chennai. The study revealed that
the main problem out of work and anger and irritation, digestive disorder,
sleep disorder, depression etc.
D.H.
McKnight, B. Philips, and B.C. Hardgrave (2009) - Research found that turnover intention among IT
professionals is explained by job satisfaction and workplace characteristics
such as trust in senior management, information sharing, structural fairness
and job security. Among them job satisfaction has the highest impact on
behavioral intention to quit a job. The fairness of rewards, job satisfaction
and perceived work load predict turnover intention among IT.
M.F. Reid,
C.K. Riemenschneider, M.W. Allen, D.J. Armstrong (2009) - found that
role ambiguity, perceived organizational support, leader-member exchange and
task variety are important factors that explain most of the variance in the
affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction of IT employees.
Adya,
Monica P (2008) -
Study revealed that while most women from
Phukan (2008) - A study revealed the
fact that more than 73% of the women felt that managing the home and a career
was a primary reason for their stress and the resulting poor health. In ability
to focus on one’s own personal wellness, apportioning time for other activities
becomes nearly impossible while juggling a demanding career and a home.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Ø To identify
the various problems and personal consequences faced by women employees in IT
industry with special reference to
Ø To identify
physical discomfort and Psychological Problems faced by women in the work
environment.
Ø To provide
suggestions to reduce the problems faced by the women employees in IT industry.
SCOPE OF THE
STUDY
This research aims to identify the various
physical, psychological and mental problems faced by the women employees in IT
industry. The women employees working in IT sector
face some problems related to physical and psychological aspects. This study
would enable IT industries to help the women employees to overcome their
problems and also useful to the organizations to provide safe and adequate
environment for women employees to balance and office and family set up.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION
The study is mainly based on primary data from a
well structured questionnaire. The respondents are contacted personally through
convenient sampling method, during the working hours for the purpose of data
collection. The
secondary sources of data are collected from published articles and internet. The questionnaire
is divided into different parts like Demographic variables, Physical problems, Psychological
problems, Personal consequences at work place. Several related questions were
framed on each category by using both closed and open ended questions. All the
women employees working in
ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
TABLE - 1
DEMOGRAPHIC
FACTORS OF SAMPLE RESPONDENTS
(Percentage are given in brackets)
|
Descriptions |
Categories |
No of respondents (Percentage) |
|
Age(Years) |
Below 25 25-30 30-35 35 and Above |
61(51) 32(27) 17(14) 10(8) |
|
Marital
Status |
Married Unmarried |
48(40) 72(60) |
|
Educational
Qualification |
Diploma holder Graduate Post graduate |
15(13) 81(67) 24(20) |
|
Experience(Years) |
Below 1 1-5 5-10 Above 10 |
21(17) 57(48) 33(27) 9(8) |
|
Salary (Rs) |
Below 20,000 20,001-30000 30,001- 40,000 40,001 and above |
13(11) 42(35) 48(40) 17(14) |
Source:
primary data
The table- 1 depicts
that 51% of the respondents are under the age group of below25, 27% of the
respondents are between the age group of 25-30, 14% of the respondents are
between the age group of 30 -35 and 8% of the respondents are between the age
group of 35 and above. 60% of the respondents are unmarried and 40% of the
respondents are married. 13% of the respondents are diploma holders 67% of the
respondents are educated up to graduates and 20% of the respondents are
qualified till post graduates.17% of the respondents have below 1 years of
experience, 48% of the respondents have 1 - 5 years of experience, 27% of the
respondents have 5 - 10 years and 8% of the respondents have more than 10 years.
11% of the respondents earn salary below 20,000. 35% of the respondents earn
salary between 20,001- 30,000. 40% of the respondents earn salary between
30,001 - 40,000 and 14% of the respondents earn salary above 40,001.
TABLE - 2
PHYSICAL
PROBLEMS FACED OUT OF WORK
(Percentage are given in brackets)
|
Description |
Category |
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
|
Backaches |
67(56) |
53(44) |
|
Repeated Cold & Headache |
38(32) |
82(68) |
|
Continual Tiredness |
66(55) |
54(45) |
|
Shoulder Pain |
81(67) |
39(33) |
|
Digestive Problems |
60(50) |
60(50) |
|
Blood Pressure |
72(60) |
48(40) |
|
Feeling Angry & Irritable |
75(63) |
45(37) |
|
Eye Problem |
72(60) |
48(40) |
|
Menstrual problem |
54(45) |
66(55) |
|
Strains |
52(43) |
68(57) |
Source:
primary data
The table-2 depicts the
physical problems faced by the respondents, 56% of the respondents suffer from
backaches, 32% of the respondents get frequent cold & headache, 55% of the
respondents suffer from continual
tiredness, 67% of the respondents have shoulder pain, 50% of the respondents
have digestive disorder, 60% of the respondents suffer from high blood
pressure, 63% of the respondents
feel angry & irritable, 60% of the respondents have eye problem, 45% of the
respondents have menstrual problem and 43% of the respondents suffer from
strains.
TABLE - 3
PSYCHOLOGICAL
PROBLEMS
(Percentage
are given in brackets)
|
Psychological
Problems |
Category |
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
|
Anxiety |
66(55) |
54(45) |
|
Depression |
67(56) |
53(44) |
|
Faulty
Eating Habits |
54(45) |
66(55) |
|
Mental
Tension |
71(59) |
49(41) |
|
Mental
Illness |
47(39) |
73(61) |
|
Sleep
Disturbance |
66(55) |
54(45) |
|
Fear
of future life |
42(35) |
78(65) |
|
Sense
of insecurity at work place |
38(32) |
82(68) |
Source:
primary data
The table-3 depicts that
out of the total respondents taken for the study, 55% of the respondents suffer
from anxiety, 56% of the respondents suffer from depression, 45% of the
respondents have faulty eating habits, 59% of the respondents have mental
tension, 39% of the respondents have mental illness, 55% of the respondents
suffer from sleep disturbance and 35% of the respondents says they are fear
about future and 32% says they feel Sense of insecurity at work place.
TABLE- 4
PERSONAL
CONSEQUENCES AT WORKPLACE
(Percentage are given in brackets)
|
Descriptions |
Categories |
||||
|
Always |
Often |
Sometimes |
Rarely |
Never |
|
|
Work cause problems with employees
family or childcare responsibilities |
22(19) |
49(40) |
24(20) |
14(12) |
11(9) |
|
Conflict with colleagues |
13(11) |
20(17) |
35(29) |
39(32) |
13(11) |
|
Lack
of interpersonal relationship |
23(19) |
22(18) |
20(17) |
34(28) |
21(18) |
|
Frequent
commitment of mistakes |
9(7) |
20(17) |
21(18) |
41(34) |
29(24) |
|
Adverse
family relations |
28(23) |
36(30) |
26(22) |
18(15) |
12(10) |
|
Feel
of missing family |
31(26) |
38(32) |
23(19) |
19(16) |
9(7) |
Source:
primary data
The table-4 shows that 19%
of the respondents feel that always Work cause
problems with employees family or childcare responsibilities, 40% of
respondents says often it cause problem, 20% of respondents opinion is
sometime, 12% of the respondents feel that rarely work cause problems and 9% of the respondents feel that work never cause problems with their family or childcare
responsibilities. The table depicts that 11%, 19%, 7%, 23% and 26% of
respondents opinion is always for the factors like Conflict with colleagues, Lack
of interpersonal relationship, Frequent commitment of mistakes, Adverse family
relations, Feel of missing family. 17%, 18%, 17%, 30% and 32% of respondent’s
opinion is often. 19%, 29%, 17%, 18%, 22% and 19% says that they are sometimes
affected from the variables related to for personal consequences at work place.
12%, 32%, 28%, 34%, 15% and 16% of respondents says they are rarely influenced
by the variables like personal consequences at work place.
Finally the balance 9%,
11%, 18%, 24%, 10% and 7% of respondents
are never affected from variables like Conflict with colleagues, Lack of
interpersonal relationship, Frequent commitment of mistakes, Adverse family
relations, Feel of missing family.
TABLE-5
CHI-SQUARE TEST
RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN AGE AND PHYSICAL PROBLEMS FACED OUT OF WORK.
H0: There is no
significant relationship between age and physical problem faced out of work
H1: There is a
significant relationship between age and physical problem faced out of work
|
Physical
problem faced out of work |
Table value |
Chi-square
value |
Significance |
|
Backaches |
7.82 |
0.662375 |
Not Significant |
|
Repeated Cold & Headache |
7.82 |
12.33332 |
Significant |
|
Continual Tiredness |
7.82 |
5.555093 |
Not Significant |
|
Shoulder Pain |
7.82 |
2.998486 |
Not Significant |
|
Digestive Problems |
7.82 |
11.33117 |
Significant |
|
Blood Pressure |
7.82 |
2.397767 |
Not Significant |
|
Feeling Angry & Irritable |
7.82 |
2.051559 |
Not Significant |
|
Eye Problem |
7.82 |
7.127531 |
Not Significant |
|
Menstrual problem |
7.82 |
12.09338 |
Significant |
|
Strains |
7.82 |
6.453748 |
Not Significant |
Source:
primary data
Degree of freedom : 3
and Level of significance: 0.05
The calculated value is
greater than the table value for the age of sample respondents and Repeated
Cold & Headache, Digestive Problems and Menstrual problem is dependent. Hence
it is concluded that framed null hypothesis is rejected.
The table-5 indicates
that calculated chi square values is less than the table value for the age and Backaches,
Continual Tiredness, Shoulder Pain, Blood Pressure, Feeling Angry &
Irritable, Eye Problem, Strains. Hence it is proved that framed null hypothesis
is accepted.
TABLE-6
RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN EXPERIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
H0: There is no
significant relationship between experience and psychological problems
H1: There is
significant relationship between experience and psychological problems.
|
Psychological
problems |
Table value |
Chi-square
value |
Significance |
|
Anxiety |
7.82 |
11.2807 |
Significant |
|
Depression |
7.82 |
2.087955 |
Not Significant |
|
Faulty Eating Habits |
7.82 |
7.428397 |
Not Significant |
|
Mental Tension |
7.82 |
6.77225 |
Not Significant |
|
Mental Illness |
7.82 |
3.737855 |
Not Significant |
|
Sleep Disturbance |
7.82 |
5.403745 |
Not Significant |
|
Fear of future life |
7.82 |
5.983357 |
Not Significant |
|
Sense of insecurity at work place |
7.82 |
7.934564 |
Significant |
Source:
primary data
Degree of freedom : 3
and Level of Significance: 0.05
Hence
from the above calculation it shows that the calculated value (2.087955, 7.428397,
6.77225, 3.737855, 5.403745, and 5.983357) for the variable Depression, Faulty
Eating Habits, Mental Tension, Mental Illness, Sleep Disturbance and Fear of
future life is lesser than the table value (7.82). So the constructed null
hypothesis is accepted and there is no significant relationship. From the above
table it is inferred that the calculated value [11.2807, 7.934564] is greater
than the table value [7.82]. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected. So, there
is significant relationship between variables.
TABLE-7
RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN MARITAL STATUS AND PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES AT
WORKPLACE
H0: There is no
significant relationship between marital status and personal
consequences at workplace.
H1: There is a significant
relationship between marital status and personal
consequences at workplace.
|
Personal
consequences at workplace |
Table value |
Chi-square
value |
Significance |
|
Work cause problems with employees
family or childcare responsibilities |
9.49 |
2.304238 |
Not Significant |
|
Conflict with colleagues |
9.49 |
3.062424 |
Not Significant |
|
Lack
of interpersonal relationship |
9.49 |
11.6405 |
Significant |
|
Frequent
commitment of mistakes |
9.49 |
2.654867 |
Not Significant |
|
Adverse
family relations |
9.49 |
9.430708 |
Not Significant |
|
Feel
of missing family |
9.49 |
5.868444 |
Not Significant |
Source:
primary data
Degree of freedom : 4 and Level of significance :
0.05
The table-7 shows that relationship
between marital status and Lack of interpersonal relationship are independent.
The calculated value is greater than the table value. Hence it is concluded
that framed null hypothesis is rejected. The table also reveals that relationship
between marital status and Work cause problems with
employee’s family or childcare responsibilities, Conflict with
colleagues, Frequent commitment of mistakes, Adverse family relations, Feel of
missing family is dependent. Thus it is concluded that framed null hypothesis
is accepted.
TABLE-8
CORRELATION
1. Relationship
Between Frequent Commitment of Mistakes and Work Cause Problems with Employees
Family or Childcare Responsibilities, Conflict with Colleagues, Lack of
Interpersonal Relationship, Adverse
Family Relations, Feel of Missing Family.
|
Description |
r value |
Result |
|
Work cause problems
with employees family or childcare responsibilities |
-0.42857 |
Negative |
|
Conflict with
colleagues |
0.59624 |
Positive |
|
Lack of interpersonal
relationship |
0.70169 |
Positive |
|
Adverse family
relations |
-0.6266 |
Negative |
|
Feel of missing family |
-0.6012 |
Negative |
Source:
primary data
The two independent
variable Frequent Commitment of Mistakes
with Work cause problems with employee’s family or childcare
responsibilities, Adverse family relations, Feel of missing family are
correlated. The value of the correlation is -0.42857, -0.6266, -0.6012 which is
negatively correlated with the variables.
The value r = +0.59624,
+0.70169 which indicate that there is positive
correlation between Frequent Commitment of Mistakes with Conflict with colleagues, Lack of interpersonal relationship.
It shows that both variable moves in a same direction.
FINDINGS
Ø Majority
of the respondent’s opinion is that they are affected by physical problems like
Backache
(56%), Continual Tiredness (55%), Shoulder Pain (67%), Blood Pressure (60%),
Feeling Angry & Irritable (63%), and Eye Problem (60%).
Ø Out of total
sample respondents 55%, 56%,45%,49%,39%,39%,55%,35%,32% are affected by
psychological problems like Anxiety, Depression,
Faulty eating habits, Mental tension, Mental illness, Sleep disturbance, Fear
about future, Feel Sense of insecurity at work place.
Ø As personal consequences is concerned many of
the respondents are influenced by various factors like Work
cause problems with employees family or childcare responsibilities(40%),
Conflict with colleagues(17%), Lack of
interpersonal relationship(18%), Frequent
commitment of mistakes(17%), Adverse family
relations(30%), Feel of missing family(32%).
SUGGESTIONS
Ø A
change in the working schedule should be brought which would help the women
workers to overcome negative factors affecting concentration, job performance,
social and family interactions and general health.
Ø The
organizations should have a code of conduct for its employees which would help
them to overcome the mental harassment at their work place. Some of the women
employees are affected by depression, mental stress, mental illness and strain;
such affected women should be helped in resuming a normal life by way of
providing them counseling and medical aid.
Ø Most of the psychological problems can be
solved by doing Yoga and meditation. The company/organization should provide
healthcare services within the campus.
Ø A health food
canteen with a nutritionist and dietician who can plan the daily healthy menus
will go a long way in providing nutritious food which will help boost their
metabolism and give them stamina to perform in their demanding job. An
attending psychologist should also be employed to deal with emotional problems
that arise to them.
CONCLUSION
The
number of women employed by the information technology sector is rapidly
growing. Computers have become a very important part of everyday lives, and
information technology has affected almost everyone, from seeking employment to
consulting for the health. Information technology sector organizations have
more attraction for women. This implies that more important is to utilize the
expertise of women than to drag them in all spheres of life, without having a
regard for the requirements of their personal lives. The project work
identified various physical and psychological problems faced by women employees
in IT industry. The suggestions have been provided if it is followed personally
by the women workers and also by the IT organizations will pave way to reduce
the problems.
REFERENCES
Books
1.
Aswathppa (2007),”Human
Resource Management”, Tata McGrawHill,
2.
Gupta S.P. “Statistical
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4.
C.R. Kothari,” Research Methodology”: methods
and techniques (2nd edition:
Journals
1.
Kerala state women commission (2010) Women in IT sector suffer from mental
tension.
2.
Maria Angelin
Jayanthi D and Venkatramaraju D (2009) ,Nightshift Hurdles for women in
BPO with reference to Chennai city, ASBM journal of management , Vol. 2(2),
2009
3.
D.H. McKnight, B. Philips, and B.C. Hardgrave,
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characteristics,” Information &
Management, vol. 46, pp. 167-174, 2009.
4.
M.F. Reid, C.K. Riemenschneider, M.W. Allen,
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affective organizational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction,” The American Review of Public Administration,
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Adya, Monica,”Women at work: Differences in IT career
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