Stress, satisfaction, and coping: a study of women clerical workers

Increasing numbers of women in the work force have prompted researchers to study the health impact of their work satisfactions and stressors. In this study, we examined the quality of the work role as perceived by women who hold clerical jobs. Qualitative data were collected through structured interviews with 87 female clerical workers employed in four organizational settings. All were mothers with one or more children living at home. Work satisfaction, work stressors, coping strategies, and resources were discussed in the interviews. Categories were developed for each of these areas. The Ethnograph computer program was used after content analysis to code and retrieve the responses for each category.