Psychology 409A-November 7, 2005
My Sixth Outline of
Assigned
By Gemma Clayson
Women: Stressed Out and Trucking
Reference 5: www.cdc.gov/elcosh/docs/d0300/d000391/d000391.html. "Stress Factors Experienced by Female Commercial Drivers in the Transportation Industry".
Instructions for this activity are found at: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/409a-g23-oral.htm
Instructor: Dr. Leon James
Concept One: Safety Climate
A. Your safety climate includes your work safety and your personal safety. It involves all employers, supervisors, and managers working together. Their goal is to ensure the safest possible working conditions. Protection of drivers should be the highest priority for all commercial transportation firms.
B. Females driving alone can be dangerous. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that truck drivers experienced the largest number of injuries and illnesses. In this study, the women reported that the truck stops and rest areas were unsafe and need more lighting or 24 hour attendants.
C. For me, safety is a very important issue. Feeling unsafe will cause stress and stress has been proven to impact one's psychological and physical health.
Concept Two: Stress and Physical Health Concerns
A. Psychological stress contributes to injury and illness of both females and males and can have negative consequences on mental and physical health.
B. Stress factors surrounding the truck driving occupation include: irregular and long hours, pressure to meet delivery deadlines, and a lack of sleep. Pressure to meet a deadline, so the truck driver will choose to sleep less and travel more. There are other road stressors in this study such as: dealing with other aggressive drivers and bad weather conditions. These women were more likely to drive in poor and unsafe road conditions. Many also drive between midnight and 4 a.m. and are exposing themselves to a time frame that the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) identified as a period with increased risk for alcohol- and fatigue-related accidents.
C. Personally, I would never consider a truck driving occupation mostly because I hate dealing with other drivers. It's hard to believe that 5% of truck drivers are women and have been able to put up with such stress and gender related issues.
Concept Three: Gender-Related Issues
A. Limited job opportunities and discrimination are just two gender related issues that female truck drivers deal with on a daily basis. Females making up only 5% of the industry has them interacting mostly with other males.
B. It has been found that in such a male-dominated profession, males patronize and sexually harass their female coworkers in order to maintain the social norm acceptance with the other males in their job culture. Some females believe that they have been hired as a result of the Equal Opportunity Employment Requirements and not because of their abilities. Although this study indicated that discrimination and harassment were more societal and cultural issues.
C. It is easier for me to believe that women truck drivers are treated differently than males and that discrimination does occur frequently. In today's society, I feel as if it is very common for women to work harder in order to feel as if they are equal to males.
Related Web Links:
1. www.nhtsa.dot.gov - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
2. www.truckline.com -American Trucking Associations
3. http://fleetowner.com/mag/fleet_women_drivers/index.html -Article discussing positive aspects of women in the truck driving industry
Class Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/classhome-g23.htm
My Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409af2005/clayson/home.htm