The Effects of Work Place Bullying on Women’s Patterns of Engagement in the Workforce

Study Summary

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Study Summary:

Over half of Canadian women are employed. Work affects health both directly through providing income and the nature of the working environment and indirectly through providing access to personal and social support. Canadian women, particularly lone mothers, are more likely than men to be chronically unemployed; that is, to be seeking but unable to find work, yet work is essential to their ability to sustain themselves economically and socially. Chronic unemployment and under-employment lead to a pattern of women needing to re-enter the workforce repeatedly over time. For women who wish to work, being unable to do so consistently negatively influences their health and well-being and their economic stability. One barrier to women’s ability to work is violence against women. Work place bullying, one form of violence against women, creates a hostile work environment, affects mental and physical health, and has long term social, economic, and career implications. Canada has one of the highest rates of work place bullying internationally. Work place bullying is repeated physical, verbal, or sexual abuse or intimidation. Many women who have been bullied try to avoid it by taking leaves of absence or quitting jobs. Others try to ignore the bullying but become less productive in their work. One outcome is that bullying has a significant impact on Canada’s economy because emotional and mental health problems are very costly to productivity and account for many of the disability claims.

How work place bullying and its consequences influence whether, when, where, and how long women work is unknown. The purpose of this qualitative study is to expand current knowledge of how experiencing work place bullying affects women’s patterns of engagement in the workforce in the short term and over time. We also hope to understand how women describe the main problem related to work when they have been bullied and to find how other factors may affect their work and work patterns. We will use a feminist grounded theory method to collect and analyze data simultaneously and specific research questions and direction for data collection will emerge as analysis proceeds. We will interview a total of 40 NB women who have experienced workplace bullying to understand how that may have influenced their ability to stay in, or return to, the workforce. Analysis using the constant comparative method will account for, and interpret, patterns at a conceptual level, providing an understanding that is a potential starting point for broader social change.

This study will advance knowledge by extending findings from our qualitative studies of abused women that reveal that support from co-workers and a supportive work environment help them to deal more effectively with violence at home and to promote their health. These findings suggest that work places play a critical role in how women promote their health. The proposed study will contribute knowledge about how bullying affects women’s employment patterns and engagement in the workforce over time. Wider social benefits from this research may relate to informing the development of appropriate policies and programs for productive work places that build on women’s usual strategies for dealing with their central problem related to bullying. In this way, policies and programs may better complement women’s efforts to be part of the workforce over time, keep women in the workforce, and address work place bullying. Findings may also have broader implications in relation to other forms of victimization. The study has potential practical benefit in that it may guide the professional practice interventions of social workers and nurses who have frequent contact with women during their working lives. Findings may also be of interest to the Status of Women, unions, and the NB Minister’s Working Group on Violence Against Women.

Related Reports:

Publications

MacIntosh, J. (2006). Experiences of work place bullying in a rural area.  Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 26(9), 893-910.

Presentations

MacIntosh, J. (2006, April). Fostering positive relationships: Strategies to address work place bullying. Keynote Address at Capital District Health Authority Nursing Leadership Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

MacIntosh, J. (2006, April). Understanding the effects of work place violence on the health of  women. Paper Presented at the Nurses Network on Violence Against Women International Conference, Portland, Oregon.

MacIntosh, J., Merritt-Gray, M., & Wuest, J. (2006, April). The Impact of Workplace Bullying on Women’s health. UNB Nursing Research Day, Fredericton, New Brunswick.