Becker's Hospital Review

45 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP 15 best, worst states for working women in 2021 By Hannah Mitchell T he top three states and territories to work in for women are Oregon, California and New York, while the worst state was North Carolina, according to an August ranking by Oxfam America. Oxfam America is an organization that analyzes and fights poverty globally. For its study, Oxfam looked at three categories: wag- es (20 percent of overall score), worker pro- tections (60 percent) and the right to organize (20 percent). Some insights into the rankings and scores: • e study looked at laws each state had in place that protect workers who are pregnant or breastfeeding. e study also looked at mandates for paid family and sick leave, equal pay, and protec- tions against sexual harassment. • For wage policies, the study considered the ratio of the tipped minimum wage to the cost of living for one earner and two dependents. • More than 75 percent of teachers are women. Oxfam analyzed policies af- fecting public school teachers and their right to unionize. • Just 24 states and Washington, D.C., re- quire private employers to make accom- modations for pregnant workers and give women the right to pump at work. • Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and North Carolina have no laws protecting employees from sexual harassment. Below are the 15 best and worst states to work for women and the overall rank of each state, along with its total score, including Washing- ton, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Best states and territories: 1. Oregon — 95.36 2. California — 89.17 3. New York — 83.97 4. Washington — 80 5. Connecticut — 76.98 6. Massachusetts — 76.89 7. New Jersey — 75.02 8. Hawaii — 72.58 9. Nevada — 71.27 10. Colorado — 71.12 11. Puerto Rico — 69.1 12. Illinois — 68.02 13. Washington, D.C. — 67.8 14. Vermont — 63.98 15. Maine — 62.26 Worst states: 38. Kansas — 33.91 39. Wisconsin — 33.9 40. Kentucky — 33.9 41. Utah — 33.74 42. Arizona — 32.55 43. Louisiana — 32.13 44. Arkansas — 29.93 45. West Virginia — 29.75 46. Wyoming — 23.98 47. South Carolina — 23.85 48. Texas — 13.92 49. Mississippi — 10.93 50. Alabama — 10.84 51. Georgia — 8.8 52. North Carolina — 3.6 n Zoom fatigue harder on women, new employees By Hannah Mitchell W omen and new employ- ees are more likely to be fatigued by Zoom meet- ings than their colleagues, according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Researchers from the Athens-based University of Georgia, Tucson-based University of Arizona and others part- nered with Tucson-based BroadPath, which provides health IT services to providers and payers, according to a Sept. 9 news release. The company has been using its own video software for nearly 10 years. The teams worked to understand how videoconferenc- ing affected the meeting experience. Five study insights: 1. Zoom fatigue, or the feeling of being worn out after virtual meet- ings, isn't caused by spending too much time in meetings but is actually caused by the camera being turned on, according to the study. 2. "We knew people had the percep- tion that Zoom meetings were lead- ing to fatigue, but we didn't know what about those meetings was the problem," said Kristen Shockley, PhD, a psychology professor at the Univer- sity of Georgia. "Our study revealed that there's something about the camera being on that causes people to feel drained and lack energy." 3. Women were more likely to feel fatigued by Zoom meetings. The re- searchers concluded that women may feel more pressure to demon- strate vigilance on camera or hold themselves to higher standards of physical appearance. Women were also statistically more likely than men to have children in their backgrounds. 4. New employees were also more like- ly to feel Zoom fatigue because they may feel the need to prove themselves to their colleagues because they don't have established relationships. 5. When cameras were turned off, there was not a reduction in engage- ment or talking during meetings. Instead, there was a reduction in en- gagement and talking during virtual meetings when employees were feel- ing fatigued. The researchers con- cluded that employees should have more autonomy over whether their cameras are turned off or on. n

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