Job strain index by gender among middle and high managers of the maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juarez Mexico

Abstract

Work stress has become a widespread problem in Mexico due to new forms of work organization, new work relationships, and new employment patterns especially in maquiladora industry. The objective of this research is to diagnose work stress by gender using the Job Strain Index in a sample of middle and high managers of the maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. As methods, the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and the Job Strain Index were used and statistical tests for the verification of proportion differences by gender were applied. The sample is composed of 177 men and 55 women, of which the proportion that suffers stress (JSI > 1) is 19.2% for men and 38.2% for women. Results show that the proportion of stressed men is significant less than the proportion of stressed women. This means that there is a direct relationship between gender and work stress in middle and senior managers in this sample where women are more likely to suffer work stress than men are.