Perception of Violence and Abuse in the Work Environment of Polish Communication Experts: The Gender Context

We analyze the perception of various shades of violence and abuse in the workplace among Polish communication experts in the context of gender (with references to professional advancement opportunities, occurrence of biases, job satisfaction, and incidents of sexual harassment). We use a quantitative method with survey research. The questionnaire was created for the as part of the project ‘Wellbeing in Public Relations and Communications Industries’, which is run within the EUPRERA network on 'Women in PR'. For this paper, we analyze Polish data: independent variables (gender and age of respondents, employment sector, the organization's size, and the length of professional careers) and dependent variables (four statements related to perceived gender discrimination and sexual harassment). We collected the data between May-September, 2023. A group of 122 individuals completed the survey, and then we calculated the data with Excel's pivot formula. The study confirmed that gender impacts the scale and perception of workplace violence/abuse. It was an obstacle to success for one-third of men and two-thirds of women. Nearly 60% of women believed it negatively impacted their advancement (over 80% of men had no such experiences). Additionally, 70% of women and 34% of men experienced harassment. Our study supports the discussed theory, confirming that women often experience workplace discomfort. Two observations are worth underlining: 1) a surprisingly broad range of behaviors in expert communication workplaces; 2) a generational shift in reporting abuse and harassment, with younger, less experienced men reporting more, later reversed as older women feel more harassed.