Women have it Worse: an ICT Workplace Digital Transformation Stress Gender Gap

TL;DR

This study addresses the gender gap in digital transformation stress ($DTS$) within ICT-heavy workplaces by combining the Digital Transformation Stress Scale ($DTSS$) with sentiment analysis of help desk tickets to detect ICT helplessness markers. Using data from 2019–2020 in a multinational firm undergoing ongoing DT, including 37 survey participants (30 women, 7 men) and 266 help desk users, the authors demonstrate that female employees exhibit higher $DTS$ and ICT helplessness, with patterns amplified during the COVID-19 period. The findings reveal a robust gender disparity in both self-reported stress and ticket-based signals, likely driven by stereotypes and lower ICT self-efficacy among women, and show meaningful correlations between $DTSS$, perceived stress ($PSS$-4), andHD sentiment. The work highlights practical implications for IT-tool design, policy, and automated, language-aware stress-detection interventions to improve workplace well-being and reduce burnout.

Abstract

Although information and communication technologies (ICT) solutions have positive outcomes for both companies and employees, the digital transformation (DT) could have an impact on the well-being of employees. The jobs of the employees became more demanding, and they were expected to learn ICT skills and cope with ICT workloads and hassles. Due to negative stereotypes about women's deficiency in technology, these ICT problems could affect female and male employees differently. Thus, we predicted that this additional pressure may manifest itself in higher levels of digital transformation stress (DTS) in female employees. The results confirmed this prediction and indicated the existence of a gender gap in DTS, measured two-fold - in sentiment analysis of help desk tickets and self-report using a psychological scale. Based on these results, we explore the need to discuss possible solutions and tools to support women in ICT-heavy workplace contexts.

Figures (4)

• Figure 1: Share of women vs men employed in IT in EU and Poland
• Figure 2: Level of digital skills of men and women in EU and Poland
• Figure 3: The relationship between the registered issues and the intensity of the negative sentiment markers.
• Figure 4: Average tickets and negative sentiment tags per person.