A recent study published in the scientific journal PNAS and conducted by Harvard researchers recently highlighted the risk of burnout higher in women than in men. This would be due in particular to the many social pressures weighing on their shoulders.
Researchers based at Harvard University have analyzed the behavior of 5,000 people in the workplace. They took into account, in particular, the gender, the status in the hierarchy and the relationship that they had vis-à-vis the management of their time in terms of deadlines. In order not to bias the results of their study, they decided to focus on employees and managers working in companies that offered adjustable deadlines for closing cases. Within them, there was little or no interdependence between the work of the employee and that of his or her manager and the request for extension of deadlines had, a priori, no negative repercussions on the image of the employee.
The results of this study show that the women employed in these companies do not dare to ask for delays in the management of their files and are therefore under more intense pressure and stress. They receive more requests to carry out missions outside their basic responsibilities and very often refuse to delegate these tasks to their colleagues for fear of being a burden on others. However, these women find themselves in a professional environment which encourages them, or at least allows them, not to take charge of all the anxiety of their work. The researchers interpret this result as the direct consequence of the impostor syndrome which affects a majority of women and which encourages them to never let go in their missions and to constantly fear being perceived as incompetent.
Cumulative stressors in times of crisis
This chain of behaviors results in a higher risk of burnout for these employees. In addition, the current situation does not improve the situation of women in their professional environment. Between the stress of managing professional tasks performed remotely, taking charge of household chores often incumbent on women, childcare … the anxiety of workers can be quite intense. Also, a recent study published in theAmerican Heart Association, conducted on 500,000 Americans has shown an increase in blood pressure in 30% of individuals, the majority of which are women. However, high blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. The issue of women’s heart health therefore remains, especially today, a primordial issue at the international level.