Gender and Occupational Stress Technical Report: Social Worker

Jamie Edmondson

SYD 3805, Fall 2016

Social workers help people to “solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives.” (OOH, access September 2016) Many of the individuals that SW’s are working with include children, individuals with disabilities, and individuals struggling with serious illnesses or addictions. In American society, women are often looked at as the “caretakers.” It is because of this traditional outlook that many social workers happen to be women. Additionally, when men do work in this field, men are represented as “passive recipients of care or resistant recipients of control and not as active providers of care,” (Christie, p. 30) which can lead to a perpetuation of these gender roles and an underrepresentation of men in the field of social work. The fact that there is a wage gap when regarding gender could also have something to do with the fact that SW’s median wage are less than the average American.

Furthermore, the long hours the social workers may be working in this career can be worse for women. According to WebMD, the correlation between long hours and disease “seems to be present a bit in men but is tremendously more evident in women.”

Table. Analysis of Workplace Stress: Social Worker

Occupational Exposure to Stress Work-Life BalanceJob duties Diagnosing patients, gathering resources, assess

clients’ needs, respond to crisis, identify people/communities in need of help, advocacy

These duties can lead to secondary trauma; stress or symptoms of

trauma that “over flow” into you’re an employees personal life, making it

harder for women to attend to the “second shift” that they are expected

to take part in.Work

EnvironmentMental health clinics, schools, child

welfare/human service agencies, hospitals, settlement houses, private practices, shelters

The chaos of traveling or scheduling your personal life (parenting, friends,

self-care) around your clients can cause one to feel a lack of control,

leading to burn out.Risk of Illness or

Injuries3 main risks: 1) Manual handling (patient handling and handling, etc.), 2) Slips, trips and falls, 3) Work related shock, fright and

violence.

The first two seem to align with risks of everyday life, however, work

related shock, fright and violence are serious risks for this career.

Maintaining a sense of safety and mental well-being will take work but

it is crucial.

Work Schedule This full time job often includes evenings, weekends and/or holidays as there is a

prevalence of understaffing and large case loads

Because of the understaffing and large caseloads, individuals in this field may be working many hours.

According to WebMD, "People who habitually put in a lot of long hours for many years, even decades, are really running an increased risk of potentially seeing chronic disease

later in life.”Education and

TrainingBachelor’s degree in social work, psychology or

sociology (some positions require a master’s degree), clinical SW’s must be licensed in their

state of employment.

Schooling can get quite expensive, especially if the student is shooting

for the LCSW status. Some individuals may get burnt-out before they reach

graduation/licensed status.Important Qualities

Communication skills, empathy, interpersonal skills, organization skills, problem-solving skills,

time management skills

Many of these skills are considered “feminine” or “womanly” (especially empathy). Women are proven to be fantastic at communication skills so

this is an advantage. However, many of these skills seem to imply that this

career involves many high-stress situations, which lead to burn out or compassion fatigue. If SW’s are not careful, being burnt out can lead to

bigger implications than just irritability and a sense of being “over

it;” feeling this way can cause hypervigilance, secondary trauma, or

even depression.Pay, Status and Career Mobility

$45,900 I was quite disappointed to see that, despite the amount of stress and care

that go into this career, the median wage is below the average median of America for 2015; $53,657. Yes, this is above the poverty line ($29970 above

it, actually) but with the dangers, effort, chaos and mental strain of

being in this underappreciated field, one would think that the median wage would be reflective of this.

Job Outlook 12%- Faster than average. There is an expected increase. Healthcare SW’s and mental health and

substance abuse SW’s are projected to grow 19%.

There is always a growing need for this and, since SW’s work in a variety

of places/settings, there are many avenues to choose from when looking

for a position.

Citations

Christie, A., & Campling, J. (2000). Men and social work: Theories and practices. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave. [page 30]

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Edition, Social Workers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm (visited September 21, 2016).

Doheny, K. (2016, June 21). Long Work Hours May Hurt Your Health. Retrieved September 22, 2016, from http://www.webmd.com/women/news/20160621/long-work-hours-may-hurt-your-health - 1

Healthcare Illness and Injury Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2016, from http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Your_Industry/Healthcare_Sector/Healthcare_Illness_and_Injury_Statistics/

2015 Poverty Guidelines. (2015, January 22). Retrieved September 22, 2016, from https://aspe.hhs.gov/2015-poverty-guidelines