Racial identity attitudes, occupational stress and mentoring for African American women

Previous studies have acknowledged the importance of managing work related stress in relation to the cost to the individual and the organization resulting in lowered productivity, absenteeism, and turnover (Cummins, 1990; Gianakos, 2000). Mentoring has been cited in relieving work stress and promoting career progression within organizations, yet the empirical research addressing race and gender is lacking (Black-Beard, 1999; Thomas, 2001).; The purpose of this study was to explore African American women's Racial Identity Development relating to Occupational Stress and Mentoring in predominately White work environments. Three levels of the organization for African American women were studied; Professional/Managerial, Sales/Technical/Clerical and Service. There were 76 African American women who participated in the research. All women who were in mentoring relationships were in the Internalization Status of Racial Identity.; Correlations were used to analyze the relationships. There were significant relationship reported for Racial Identity and Role Overload Stress and Physical Environment Stress. The results revealed that as Racial Identity increased, Role Overload Stress, Physical Environment Stress, Physical Strain and Interpersonal Strain lowered. Internalization subscale is positively related to Psychological Strain. Internalization was found to be positively correlated with utilizing Coping Resources of Social Support and Rational Cognitive Coping.; Differences between Occupational Groups were analyzed using a Multivariate Analysis of Variance. The results revealed the Professional/Managerial Group experienced significantly less Role Insufficiency Stress as compared to the Service Occupational Group. The Professional/Managerial Group had significantly greater Responsibility Stress as compared to the Sales/Technical/Clerical Group.; Mentoring was found to be significant in one area; Physical Environment Stress was lower amongst those who were in mentoring relationships.; The findings of this study are significant in addressing race and gender in organizations by utilizing Racial Identity Theory to explore African American Women's Occupational Stress and Mentoring (Neville, Heppner & Wang, 1997). This study along with others studies focusing on African American women in organizations will help to broaden the understanding of work experiences in predominately White organizations.