Mental Well-Being Among Working Women: A Systematic Review of Workplace Challenges and Coping Strategies

Workplace challenges is a significant issue in the work environment that can have negative impacts on the mental health of women in the workforce. Job demands, work–family conflict, lack of career opportunities, gender-related inequities can pose a challenge to sustaining psychological health and professional well-being. This research intents to analyze the link among occupational stress and mental health among working women by doing systematic literature review. The six main themes that are addressed in the review are workload and job demands, job life equilibrium, workplace relationships and social support, job security and career development, gender discrimination and workplace inequality, and work environment and organizational culture. The reviewed literature, overburdened workload, lack of social support, lack of security, discrimination, and negative organizational culture could lead to psychological distress and emotional exhaustion, and therefore to burnout. Supportive leadership, flexible working, equitable career prospects, positive working relationships, and inclusive policies can be factors that support psychological health, in contrast to the above. The review highlights the need to intervene on organizational level and to use individual coping strategies when addressing workplace challenges. It also highlights the need for additional empirical studies in various occupational and organizational setting to grasp the unique experiences of working women. The results could feed into organizational policies and work practices for the reduction of occupational stress and psychological wellbeing, job satisfaction and professional growth of women.