Barriers to Healthy Behaviour among IT Specialists: Differences between Men and Women

Background. The rapid development of the information technology (IT) sector leads to work intensification, which affects the physical and mental health of specialists. However, the same workplace conditions, the nature of team interaction, and job content can be perceived differently by men and women, thus acting as threat factors to their professional well-being. The relevance of the research is associated with the insufficient study of the barriers to healthy behaviour among IT specialists, which may be related to both organizational environment factors and the specialist’s personal health potential.

Objective. The goal is to identify gender differences in the subjective assessment of barriers to healthy behaviour among IT specialists.

Study Participants. The study involved 187 IT professionals (118 men and 69 women) with an average age of 29 and an average professional experience of 7 years.

Methods. The study used the authors’ questionnaire, the “Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile” questionnaire adapted by M.D. Petrash, O.Y. Strizhitskaya, and I.R. Murtazina, the “Self-organization of Activity” questionnaire adapted by E.Y. Mandrikova, the Brief Personality Questionnaire adapted by A.S. Sergeeva, B.A. Kirillova, and A.F. Dzhumagulova, as well as the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale adapted by A.A. Zolotareva. The data were processed using descriptive statistics, comparative analysis (Mann — Whitney U-test, Pearson’s chi-squared test), and exploratory factor analysis.

Results. Barriers to healthy behaviour among IT specialists are, in general, moderately pronounced. The most significant barriers are high workload and unrealistic deadlines, while the least significant are the lack of management’s care for employee health and the necessity for continuous learning. Women perceive barriers related to the lack of support and feedback from the supervisor, the complexity of work tasks and the necessity for continuous learning, as well as high responsibility, as more significant than men. Women demonstrate a higher level of general stress, emotional vulnerability, and neuroticism, but they more frequently use self-care practices and exhibit a higher level of self-organization. The factor structure of the barriers is consistent with the JD-R model and COR theory.

Conclusions. The results obtained provide insights into barriers to healthy behaviour at the individual and organizational levels. The hypothesis that women in the IT sector experience more stress and more acutely perceive a lack of support compared to men has been confirmed. This can serve as a basis for creating individualized corporate well-being programmes.

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