The Influence of Personal Skills Development and Coping Self-Efficacy on the Affective Occupational Commitment of Women in STEM Fields

Purpose: Despite continuing under-representation of women in STEM fields, the literature still falls short on identifying and explaining the factors that could contribute to women's persistence and commitment. The purpose of this research is to identify cognitive and behavioural factors that will support the occupational commitment of women in STEM. Design: Quantitative analysis is based on a questionnaire survey of 375 women working in STEM in the Middle East region. Multiple regression and bootstrapping methods were employed in the analysis of the data. Finding: The results support the following hypotheses: Personal skills development has a positive impact on affective occupational commitment and coping self-efficacy; and, coping self-efficacy mediates the relationship between personal skills development and affective occupational commitment. Originality: This study adds insights on the dynamic approaches adopted by women in STEM fields to overcome occupational career challenges by testing several internal drivers, coping self-efficacy and personal learning

Networks Perceptions and Job Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Perceived Organizational Support for Women’s Work Contribution

PurposeThis study investigates the relationship between women’s networks perceptions and job satisfaction. It also examines the mediating effects of perceived organizational support for women’s work contribution on the relationship between networks perceptions and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approachThe participants are female employees working in Scotland (n = 247). The data were collected using a survey questionnaire. PROCESS macro (model 4, Hayes, 2018) was used to test the proposed model. FindingsThe results revealed that (controlling for work time, age, and sector) there is a significant relationship between women’s networks perceptions and job satisfaction. In addition, POS for women’s work contribution mediates the relationship between networks perceptions and job satisfaction. These findings show the significant effects of networks perceptions on employees’ job satisfaction directly and through POS for women’s work contribution. Therefore, understanding the networks perceptions of employees and organizational factors will assist in improving job satisfaction. Originality/valueThis study is unique for examining the role of POS for women’s work contribution in the relationship between employees’ networks perceptions and job satisfaction. It addresses gender inequality in the workplace in terms of women’s career advancement and job satisfaction. In addition, this research offers insight into the development of a 7-items measurement scale related to networks perceptions. Funding StatementThis reported study was unfunded. Ethical Compliance: All procedures performed in this research involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the university institutional ethics committee