Dysfunction in the workplace, like a bully culture, affects women and men differently. This book represents a broad spectrum of disciplines including law, management, communications, human resource management and industrial/organizational psychology and offers integrative, cross-disciplinary inquiries into the many roles gender plays in organizational dysfunction. The authors provoke new questions and new streams of research, with the ultimate goal of contributing to healthier workplaces for men and women alike.

This book looks at counterproductive work behavior including aggression, bullying, incivility, sexual harassment, sexual orientation harassment and absenteeism, and the effects of job stress on mental health and well-being from the perspective of gender – the gender of actors, targets and observers of abusive interpersonal behaviors; gender–race interactions; gender-related characteristics of workplace conflict, communication and stress; socio-economic factors such as occupational expectations and roles outside the workplace; and ambiguities in the law. Gender and the Dysfunctional Workplace brings together a broad, multi-disciplinary collection of authors who weigh in on topics from whether workplace bullying is status- or gender-blind to the ramifications of absenteeism on women and their careers. These scholars contribute very different approaches and conceptualizations of counterproductive work behavior, the result of which is a dynamic and pioneering appraisal of the field and innovative musings on its future.

Instructors, students and researchers in the areas of counterproductive work behavior, women’s studies, occupational health and stress, and conflict resolution will find this an enlightening and thought-provoking treatise on a topic that, with the help of research like that found here, will hopefully soon see less prevalence in the workplace and beyond.