Male-dominated workforces make women less healthy

A male-centric workplace could make women stressed, says new research.

Sociologists in the US monitored the possible effects on women working in male-dominated industries, such as engineering. They measured the cortisol patterns of female employees in these environments. Cortisol is linked to stress response and immune function.

Researcher Bianca Manago, a Sociology student at Indiana University, said: “We found women in male-dominated occupations have less healthy, or dysregulated,’ patterns of cortisol throughout the day.

“We use statistical techniques to account for individuals’ occupational and individual characteristics. This allows us to be more confident the dysregulation of cortisol is due to the negative working conditions of token women, and not their own personal characteristics nor those of their occupations.”