Development and psychometric properties of the attitude scale towards female workers in the healthcare settings

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a new instrument to evaluate healthcare professionals' attitudes towards female workers in the healthcare settings-the Attitude Scale Towards Female Workers (ASTFW)-and test its psychometric properties.Design: This is a scale development study. Method:A three-phase structure was used: (1) creating the item pool, (2) preliminarily evaluating items and (3) refining the scale and evaluating psychometric properties. The scale's content validity, construct validity, internal consistency and temporal stability were evaluated according to the scale development guidelines. The scale's psychometric properties were tested with 1,635 healthcare professionals working in six different hospitals. The data were collected between November 2018 and July 2019. Results:The scale items were obtained from face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews with the healthcare professionals. The scale's content validity index was 0.96. According to exploratory factor analysis, the scale consisted of 30 items and five subdimensions; the subdimensions were found to explain 54.48% of the total variance. Fit indices obtained with confirmatory factor analysis were at acceptable and good levels. The scale was found to have high internal consistency and temporal stability. Conclusion:The ASTFW is a psychometrically valid and reliable measurement instrument. The 30-item scale consists of five subdimensions: performance, gender roles, recruitment and retention, career, and emotionality. ImpactThis scale, which has good psychometric properties, can be used to perform a multidimensional evaluation of the attitudes of healthcare professionals in healthcare workplaces towards female workers. This scale can be useful in shedding light on negative attitudes towards female healthcare professionals in the health sector. K E Y W O R D Sattitudes, female workers, gender, gender discrimination, gender inequality, healthcare professionals, instrument development, nurses, nursing, psychometric testing | 3239 CELEBI CAKIROGLU And BAYKAL | INTRODUC TI ONGender discrimination is one of the most important problems women face in working life (Basford et al., 2014). Although there are many regulations to ensure equality and eliminate discrimination in working life, it cannot be prevented entirely in any country. The 'Global Gender Gap Report 2020' published by the World Economic Forum (2019) states that women are exposed to gender discrimination in different areas. This report emphasizes that it takes more than a century to achieve gender equality on a global level, although this may differ regionally. It also highlights that gender discrimination towards female workers is usually not reported and remains hidden and that it is critical to understand such discrimination and show its harmful effects (Basford et al., 2014). Discriminatory attitudes and approaches to gender are commonly seen in the health sector and healthcare workplaces, where women dominate, as in many sectors

Development and psychometric testing of burn inpatient nursing dependency assessment scale

“…AVE square root values were greater than correlations between factors of the scale (Table 5). The convergent and discriminant validity results of the scale were above the acceptable value (Celebi Cakiroglu & Baykal, 2021).…”

“…The data were analysed using principal component extraction and direct oblimin rotation methods to determine the scale's factor structure. Identifying the optimal number of factors was based on the following criteria: (a) latent factor was defined by at least three items with a factor loading of at least 0.50, (b) eigenvalues >0.8, (c) scree plot of items, and (d) percentage of total variance explained >70% (Barendse et al, 2015; Celebi Cakiroglu & Baykal, 2021). CFA after EFA tested the goodness of fit of data using the proposed model.…”

“…The model was analysed using the maximum likelihood estimation method in AMOS. The convergent and discriminant validity of the scale was valuated, and fit indexes, standardized factor estimate, average variance extracted (AVE), composite reliability (CR), square root of AVE and factor correlations for the model were reported (Celebi Cakiroglu & Baykal, 2021).…”

“…The goodness of fit was assessed with five indexes: chi-square/ df ratio (<2.0), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA, 0.05 or less is ideal, a maximum value of 0.08 represents reasonable fit), goodness-of-fit index (GFI, 0.90 or higher is ideal), comparative fit index (CFI, 0.90 or higher is ideal) and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI, 0.90 or higher is ideal). The convergent and discriminant validity of the scale was also evaluated by calculating the average variance extracted (AVE), composite reliability (CR), root AVE square and factor correlations (Celebi Cakiroglu & Baykal, 2021).…”

Workplace gender discrimination in the nursing workforce—An integrative review

“…This review will provide a contemporary understanding of the workplace issues experienced by men and women in the nursing workforce. Consequences of the perception of gender discrimination include stress and burnout, decreased job satisfaction and increased turn-over rate (Celebi Cakiroglu & Baykal, 2021). A better understanding of these issues will benefit healthcare systems to create more inclusive environments and assist to alleviate workforce shortages.…”