Overcoming Overwork (HBR Women at Work Series)

18

How Organizations Can Support Women’s Mental Health at Work

by Kelly Greenwood

While men and women have similar rates of mental health conditions overall, women face specific challenges around mental health in the workplace. Some are tied to gender roles and stereotypes, and some are intersectional in nature. Mental health is intersectional, since identity markers such as race and gender shape an individual’s experience; it’s also an emerging diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) category in and of itself.

The list of challenges affecting women is long. For one, women are more prone to certain diagnoses. They are twice as likely as men to experience depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and PTSD, and much more likely to battle eating ...