Women's work environment and health: clerical workers in Brazil

Although women are participating more in the formal workforce, the majority are employed primarily in low-income and low-status occupations. While work roles may provide women with some rewards, employment may also create many stressful demands on their daily lives. As part of an international study, 60 female Brazilian clerical workers responded to a self-administered questionnaire describing what they liked, disliked, and found stressful about the structural, physical, and social aspects of their work environment. Participants also identified strategies they used to cope with stress in the work environment. Dimensions of healthy environments identified in the data included utility, challenge, participation, safety, pleasing workplace, valuation, clarity of roles, and empowerment. Unhealthy environments were characterized by hazards, bureaucracy, devaluation, and economic constraints. Participants described their concerns about the effect of the environment on their physical and mental health, but tended to adopt a passive, resigned coping style rather than a proactive approach to co-creating a healthier work environment. The results and their relationship to healthy work environments are discussed within the context of the larger sociopolitical environment of Brazil.