How Female Officers Perceive and Manage Job-Related Stress and How Gender-Specific Challenges such as Discrimination Contribute to Stress Levels

How Female Officers Perceive and Manage Job-Related Stress and How Gender-Specific Challenges, such as Discrimination, Contribute to Stress Levels Student’s Name Institution Course # and Name Professor’s Name Submission Date Interest in the mental health of law enforcement personnel has been growing, especially concerning the stressors associated with the job. However, most research has focused on male officers, with little attention paid to the unique stressors their female counterparts face. Other additional stressors female officers are usually exposed to, such as discrimination, gender bias, and balancing work life, are linked to gender-specific challenges. Besides adding to the job-related stress, these challenges also influenced how female officers could perceive and manage job-related stress. For this reason, there is a need to understand female officers' experiences and coping strategies to provide the basis for interventions. This research will delve into female officers' perceptions of job-related stress, identify effective ways to cope with the challenges, and perhaps most importantly, have important implications for police departments and policymakers in advocating for more inclusionary mental health support systems and gender-sensitive workplace reforms. Need for this Study Women in law enforcement present a higher rate of symptoms related to mental health compared to their male colleagues. Research by Angehrn et al. (2021) shows that the police profession has many differences between men and women, where female officers face different challenges. Hegemonic masculinity often occupies the dominant position within police cultures and affects both genders negatively, although differently (Angehrn et al., 2021). Work stressors, heavy workloads, work-life imbalance, and poor communication at work contribute to poor mental health. These organizational sources of stress are significantly more noticeable among female officers, as they report higher levels of stress related to the organization that results in psychological and somatic symptoms such as fear and sadness. Other everyday stressors for female officers include increased bias, sexual harassment, narrow stereotyping about physical capabilities, as well as a general feeling of having less influence within their departments when compared to that of their male colleagues (Angehrn et al., 2021). Background Various research into the psychological well-being of police officers has identified a number of the stressors associated with policing. Until recently, studies by Harger (2020) and Angehrn et al. (2021) have looked at the experiences of male officers, with a shortage of attention being paid to those factors unique to females in the profession. Specific issues that female officers are facing include higher organizational stress, bias, and discrimination; however, significant gaps still exist regarding how these uniquely impact their psychological health and stress management strategies. Various research put into consideration the psychological burden associated with policing, but few have focused on gender differences. For example, research by Harger (2020) shows that female officers report higher levels of stress and mental health problems, including nervousness and depression than their male colleagues do. Research also identified gender-related work stressors, such as sexual harassment and bias, as significant contributors to the total stress burden among women in policing (Angehrn et al., 2021). Although these studies identified that female officers experience an increased level of stress, they do not fully explain how female officers perceive such stressors and their coping mechanisms within a traditionally ...