Research Article

The Impact of Workplace Gender Discrimination on Women's Professional Identity and Psychological Adjustment Mechanisms

Lexi LinGuangdong Experimental High School*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

Gender discrimination against women is still highly common in today’s workplaces, greatly getting in the way of their career development. This research focuses on two main questions. First, how this discrimination shapes women’s understanding of their own careers—what we call “professional identity”. Second, what psychological strategies women use to deal with such unfair treatment. To answer these questions, the research looks at real cases from fields like STEM, nursing and construction, and also reviews relevant research literature. Through this analysis, the paper looks at how discrimination affects women's work attitudes. It also examines how women view their own professional value and what their career goals are. At the same time, the paper lists common ways women adjust psychologically. For example, asking others for help, getting better at their professional skills and managing emotions. Also, another important finding is that workplace gender discrimination affects women differently in diverse industries. Recognizing this difference is very important for creating targeted solutions to fix the problem. In the end, we hope this study can give useful ideas for making women's workplaces better. It can also help enhance their sense of belonging to their professions and promote more gender equality at work.

Keywords: Workplace gender discrimination; Women; Professional identity; Psychological adjustment
Published: October 23, 2025
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2025.KM28348
Volume: CHR Vol.89
pp. 77-83
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