Wellbeing of working women

ABSTRACT

Background: Wellbeing of several segments of population has been documented but information of working women’s well-being still is scarce. Indian working women have to deal with psycho-social and cultural barriers and facilitators that impact their well –being. Aims: The present study is focused on the subjective component across professional groups. Methods: One hundred working females from five different professions were selected as they were interested to participate in this study. The professions included executives, teachers, administrators, doctors and engineers. Tools Life Orientation Questionnaire (LOQ) developed by Sahoo was used to measure subjects’ happiness Results: The dependent measures included overall life satisfaction, satisfaction with general area of life functioning, positive affect experience and negative affect experience. It was shown that doctors and teachers experience maximum happiness whereas administrators experience the least. Engineers and executives were placed in intermediate position. Discussion: The study considers professional setting as a “mini culture”. It is believed that profession has its own norms, expectations and corresponding value systems. Accordingly the happiness in different professional areas may be expressed differently. Conclusion: It was shown that doctors and teachers experience maximum happiness whereas administrators experience the least. Engineers and executives were placed in intermediate position. Key message Working women face the daily hardships and stressors are as a part of their life but their adverse effects are countered by their work place and social interactions with others act as a buffers