Stress and health among women and men in a Swedish telecom company

The aim of the study was to investigate gender differences at managerial and non-managerial level in perceived stress and control and the relationship to health problems. Questionnaires were collected from 281 women and men at both managerial and non-managerial level in a sales department in a large Swedish telecom company. The results showed only minor differences in perceived stress and no differences in perceived control when comparing men and women working at the same level in the organization. Instead the differences in perceived stress and control were found between managers and non-managers. In addition, the study showed both differences and similarities in explaining health symptoms for women and men at the same organizational level. Similarities were found at a non-managerial level but at a managerial level health problems were not predicted by the same factors for women and men. The need to consider organizational level in future studies about stress and gender is addressed