Gender Diversity and Psychological Wellbeing: Exploring the Relationship and Role of HRM

This literature review explores the relationship between gender diversity and psychological wellbeing, and the role of HRM in establishing gender equity for enhancement of overall performance of employees and for fulfilment of work commitments made.

GENDER DIVERSITY AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL
WELLBEING

ABSTRACT
This literature review had focused upon explaining gender diversity and psychological
wellbeing. Factors because of which psychological wellbeing of employees is affected has been
explained clearly in this literature review. Further, impact of gender diversity on workplace has
also been explained. This literature review has also focused upon explanation of relationship
between wellbeing and gender equity, and factors because of which work commitments made by
organization or employees is affected. Lastly in this literature review role of HRM in
establishing gender equality for enhancement of overall performance of employees and for
fulfilment of work commitments made. This has directly helped in explaining relationship
between psychological wellbeing and gender diversity.

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Literature Review.........................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
This study targets to determine about the role of gender diversity and psychological well-
being. It mainly focuses on gender equity and fair representation of people of different genders in
the workspace. This study also determines that perceived gender equity in the organization
positively impacts the employees and their psychological well-beings for both men and women.
Organizations are more focused in retaining talents. The human resource management in the
company has to play a very important role in managing the employees and simultaneously
focusing on the gender diversification. There might be some changes due to this, so they also
have to manage the psychological well beings on the employees. The main aim of the report is to
ensure the psychological well-being of the employees by reducing the gap between men and
women. Furthermore, comfort of the employees is main targets of the managers in the
organization. It gives the workers certain kind of satisfaction and confidence. The study targets
to bridge the knowledge gap in developing and utilizing psychological capital to enhance the
satisfaction of the employees within the company.
MAIN BODY
Literature Review
Psychological Well being
As per the view of Wang, Guchait and Paşamehmetoğlu (2020) psychological well being can be
defined as a comfort of employees. The well being of workers is very important and it is
connected with the work and performance of the employees. HRM practice impacts the
productivity of worker within the workplace. The study revealed that when there is a good
behaviour of management and they are supportive towards their staff. Also when there is trust
between management and employees, it supports in positive well being of the workers. However
Gardner (2020) describes that it is not necessarily important that only high performance HRM
practices maximize the well beings of employees. Also there are other factors that can impact the
performance of the workers such as their work and family conflict and the relationship between
the employees impacts the performance of the employees. In this report authors explain that
psychological well being and job satisfaction is related to the performance and the productivity.
In the working environment that is totally focused happiness and satisfaction of the work force,
Çankır and Şahin (2018) have identified equity at the work space is one of the most important

factor that is affecting the well-being of people in the company. Perceptions of fairness at work
is really important. Authors also elaborate that people in the workplace need to feel that their
inputs are equal to their perceived output and they know that they are fairly treated and are not
discriminated on the basis of their gender. Therefore the setting in which staff is working, the
work policies and styles, treatment and interaction between people, all these aspects contributes
to the psychological well being of the employees.
Alao and Kuruku (2018) describes that It is highly important for the organizations to have people
in the company who are stress free and it is responsibility of the managers to keep the work
environment stress free. There can be many reasons due to which employees can feel stressed
such as work load, changes within organization, job insecurity, feeling of being left out and
feeling of discrimination. It is important for the managers to ensure the psychological well being
of the employees. For that managers can support them by giving small breaks, also make sure
that the employees are not feeling left out or discriminated on any basis. Authors determined that
HRM of the company should be empathetic towards the problems of their employees. Also Ku,
Ko and Moon (2018) identifies that, it is responsibility of HR to create an environment where the
employees are happy and satisfied with their working styles and their surroundings. The most
important role of HR within the organization is that of counselling, helping individual employees
and team works, balancing gender equity and ensuring there is no any discrimination at any
level. When all these aspects are assured, this ensures the stability and psychological well being
of employees in the workplace. This provides higher rates of productivity.
Impact of gender diversity
As per the views of Thuma (2020) gender diversity means increasing the diversity awareness and
taking a close look at the different variation of behaviours. This is important within the
workplace as with this it supports in building better community and improves overall well being
of people by using right identities and expressions. There are many business benefits that comes
with diversity at workspace. The most important and beneficial result is that both men and
women have different perspectives and ideas. Also their way of thinking is very different, and in
such a way the y might have different market insights which will help the organizations to solve

problems in more smart ways. It will ultimately lead to perform better at all business levels.
Second positive impact that author identifies is that because of the diversification in the
workplace, it enables the employees to get more knowledge plus their performance also
increases, and this helps the organizations to grow. Gender diversity supports in attracting people
who are smart and talented also helps more women to get employed and empowered. On the
contrary, Gould, Kulik, and Sardeshmukh (2018) explained the negative impacts of gender
diversity. And they explained that people in the workspace might feel uncomfortable. As every
person in the company will be giving their ideas and concept, so workers may become bit
uncomfortable when they are confronted with different views that are different from their own
views. The authors feel, other impact that can occur in the workspace could lead to stress and it
would impact the well beings of the workers negatively also it would impact workspace
environment especially when people have different opinions.
Teruel and Segarra (2017) surveyed and determined that there is strong relation between gender
equity and the number of women working in the organization. Also the authors noted that
organizations that actively promote pay equity have higher level of female representation at
executive levels also the faster trajectory to improve the representation at these levels. Gender
diversity also helps in providing the transparency and encourage employees to play dynamically
in all the fields. Also it is analysed that the companies that are focused on enhancing the gender
diversity and managing the gender balance in correct ways, have more opportunities and have
wider pool of talents, these companies are more flexible. Having women in teams can improve
team processes and boost the group collaborations. It also improves the recruitments and
reputation of the company. Hence with all such advantages, organizations can earn more profits.
Well being and gender equity
According to the Chung and Van der Lippe (2020) women have been facing unfair treatment and
discrimination due to some of the organization policies and working processes. The perception of
the management on the basis of gender at workplace creates injustice for women. This thought
causes to lead to feeling of discrimination and further tends to stress for working women. This
negatively impacts their psychological well being and causes negative relationships among the
employees. Di Fabio (2017) contradict the statement and explains that policies exist for
facilitating the women's advancement and fair treatments. That can cause demotivation in male

workers, their work and performances might get affected negatively. Here management needs to
play their role and put necessary efforts to balance the working environment within the
workspace, also it is important to develop positive environment.
According to the view of Wang, Guchait & Paşamehmetoğlu, (2020) there is a strong
relationship between gender equality and wellbeing of individuals. Gender equality can directly
affect overall wellbeing of an individual. Places where gender inequality is high mental health
issues are also high. Various studies have helped in understanding that women tend to suffer
from more mental health issues as compared to men due to gender inequality (Williamson,
Colley & Foley, 2020). Depression and anxiety are most common mental health issues that are
suffered by women due to gender inequality. This is majorly because gender- based differences
can cause unsustainability that can further result in disturbance in lifestyle pattern. Its impact
upon women is high especially in countries where ration of this gender equality in much lower
because in such countries women are supressed in every possible way and as a result their both
physical and mental well- being is affected.
As per the view of Macneil & Liu, (2017) role of men and women in society is divided as
per the ration of gender equality. Their lifestyle, way of living etc. is defined as per their roles
and responsibilities in society which is further defined by gender equality ratio. Many times, due
to inequality in gender women tend to do more worn and are less appreciated. Not only this, in
fact they are expected to work even more and men are expected to earn more and bear with all
the expenditure. This not only increases pressure upon individuals but affect their mental and
physical health in many different ways. This clearly helps in understanding direct relationship
between gender equality and wellbeing because if gender equality ration in society is high then
well being of individuals is also high and if this ration is lower then well being of individuals is
also lower and both mental and physical health of individuals is affected.
Work commitments
Organizational commitments are the strength with which any worker binds themselves to the
organization and behaves in such a way that are valuable to the organization. As per the views of
Sudarnice (2020) the commitment is very important for both the employees and the organization.
Commitment is classified as either affective, continuance and normative commitments. Affective
commitment is said to have maximum effect on organization's desired performance. Affective
commitment is established when there is equity on the basis of gender, cast and other aspects.

Also an employee's thought on equity and inequity and their psychological well beings also leads
to affect the work commitments. Similarly Robertus and et.al (2020).say that any barriers and
unfair treatment at the workspace impacts the work commitments of the employees. Authors
have also identified that the affective commitments is positively connected to the mental health.
This affects the zest enthusiasm and vitality of the working staff. Gender diversification can
result in negative relationships among the employees sue to which it causes strain such as mental
health issues.
s per the view of Robertus et.al. (2020) today fulfilment of work commitments is one of
the most important things which is required to be focused upon by organization. For fulfilment of
these work commitments organizations increases pressure upon employees. In most of the
organizations, employees work under pressure so that they can fulfil all kinds of work
commitments made by them as well as made by organization. Due to this increasing pressure of
work physiological health of employees is affected which further affects overall performance of
employees and eventually fulfilment of work commitment made on time with desired quality
becomes difficult. This further helps in understanding that work commitments made by
employees can directly be affected because of physiological health of employees. Many small
organization that majorly focus upon doing business do not focus upon ways in which mental
health of employees is getting affected due to their worm commitments on the other hand, many
top MNC’s majorly focus upon making work commitments in such a manner that overall health
of employees is not affected.
However Williamson, Colley & Foley, (2020) explain that, it is extremely important for
organization to focus upon maintaining overall psychological wellbeing of employees so that
their performance is not affected and commitments made by them can be fulfilled in an
appropriate manner. There are various implications with the help of which organizations can
maintain psychological health of employees for fulfilments of their commitments. One of the
main implication is by providing employees with recognition for their achievement, by focusing
upon maintaining gender equality within organization, monitoring overall behaviour of
employees in order to ensure that no unfair treatment is being done to any employees and they
are being rewarded for their overall performance. This will directly help in maintaining overall
psychological wellbeing of employees which will eventually help in fulfilment of work
commitments made by them.

Role of HRM in establishing gender equity
The gender gap in widening, Williamson, Colley, and Foley (2020) suggests that it will take
many years to achieve gender parity at current rates. For pushing the gender parity, in the
workplace, HRM of the company has to participate play major role in achieving it. While
underlying issues are daunting and complex, human resource professionals are in the position to
impact the changes. People working in the companies often see HR as the key agents of change
when there is a problem like lack of women in the leadership. So it is important for the HR to
develop an environment that is encouraging women to participate more also it is HRM's
responsibility to hire new talented women in the company and balance the equity within the
work place. HRM of the companies must be committed to gender diversity. Similarly Macneil
and Liu (2017) determine that it is not responsibility of HRM only, the employees must also be
acceptable towards the gender diversification. The HRM must design some gender focused
human resource policies and practices. There are many organization that are focusing on
implementing such policies and many has already implemented. It is proven to be really useful
and company has also increased their market performance. According to the findings indicate
that gender diversity perceives the productivity.
A report that is conducted by Bogićević-Milikić (2019) is based on the tasks of managers, it
shows that they committed to increase the gender equity in the organizations. The seniors are
also involved in gender equity that leads to greater representation of women executives. The lack
of involvement of senior leaders in promoting gender equity is major concern of HR, according
to the authors HR in the company needs to educate the senior executives about improved
diversity. Böhmer and Schinnenburg (2018) also explain that it is important to take a holistic
approach in efforts to improve gender diversity. Also it is important to track the hire rates and
promotions of women through appropriate analytics. Also it is necessary to understand the
gender pay gaps through different performance ratings. It is important that compensation and
advantages are correlated with the gender diversity because pay equity is one of the vital factors
for more equity.

CONCLUSION
From the above literature review it has been summarized that gender diversity and
psychological wellbeing two most important factors that are required to be focused upon by
organizations. Gender equality within organizations can directly affect overall wellbeing of
employees. It has further been summarized that inequality in gender can directly results in
reduced satisfaction of employees which can eventually result in increased employee turnover.
So, in order to retain employees within organization, enhance satisfaction level of employee, it is
extremely important for organizations to work upon identifying ways in which psychological
wellbeing of employees is maintained. For reducing turnover of employees, human resource
management can directly focus upon enhancing gender diversity, gender equality within
organization so that psychological wellbeing of employees is maintained and eventually overall
psychological wellbeing of employees is maintained.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Alao, H. O., & Kuruku, E. (2018). The impact of work-stress on the psychological well-being of
social workers in a selected organization in Makurdi, Benue state. IFE PsychologIA:
An International Journal. 26(2). 72-80.
Bogićević-Milikić, B. (2019). Promoting gender-responsive talent management in police
organizations through strategic HRM measuring. Strategic Management. 24(1). 19-29.
Böhmer, N., & Schinnenburg, H. (2018). Preventing the Leaky Pipeline: Teaching Future
Female Leaders to Manage their Careers and Promote Gender Equality in
Organizations. Journal of International Women's Studies. 19(5). 63-81.
Çankır, B. İ. L. A. L., & Şahin, S. A. F. İ. Y. E. (2018). Psychological well-being and job
performance: the mediating role of work engagement. Hitit University Journal of
Social Sciences Institute. 11(3). 2549-2560.
Chung, H., & Van der Lippe, T. (2020). Flexible working, work–life balance, and gender
equality: Introduction. Social Indicators Research. 151(2). 365-381.
Di Fabio, A. (2017). The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development for well-
being in organizations. Frontiers in psychology. 8. 1534.
Gardner, D. G. (2020). The importance of being resilient: Psychological well-being, job
autonomy, and self-esteem of organization managers. Personality and Individual
Differences. 155. 109731.
Gould, J. A., Kulik, C. T., & Sardeshmukh, S. R. (2018). Trickle‐down effect: The impact of
female board members on executive gender diversity. Human Resource
Management. 57(4). 931-945.
Ku, S. Y., Ko, S. H., & Moon, T. W. (2018). The Effect of Compassion within Orchestra
Organization on Job Performance-Focusing on the mediation effect of psychological
well-being and self efficacy. Management & Information Systems Review. 37(2). 43-
62.
Macneil, J., & Liu, Z. (2017). The role of organizational learning in soft regulation of workplace
gender equality. Employee Relations.
Robertus et.al. (2020). The Effect of Transformational Leadership and Organizational Culture on
Work Commitments in SMP Jakarta Selatan. Technium Soc. Sci. J. 7. 49.
Sudarnice, S. (2020). Increasing Innovative Performance through Organization Culture, Work
Satisfaction and Organization Commitments. Integrated Journal of Business and
Economics. 4(1). 88-99.
Teruel, M., & Segarra, A. (2017). The link between gender diversity and innovation: What is the
role of firm size?”. International Review of Entrepreneurship. 15(3). 319-340.
Thuma, L. (2020). The Impact of Gender Diversity and Tokenism on the Attractiveness of an
Organization.
Wang, X., Guchait, P., & Paşamehmetoğlu, A. (2020). Why should errors be tolerated?
Perceived organizational support, organization-based self-esteem and psychological
well-being. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Williamson, S., Colley, L., & Foley, M. (2020). Human resource devolution, decoupling and
incoherence: How line managers manage gender equality reforms. Public Management
Review. 22(10). 1560-1578.
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