Research on the relationship between perceived discrimination and work alienation

The main goal of this study is to examine the relationship between perceived discrimination of public and private sector employees and their work alienation degree. In this context, two dimensions of perceived discrimination namely, race/ethnicity based discrimination and gender based discrimination, are investigated. In this study, data is collected via convenience sampling method within the scope of a descriptive research model from 121 public and 151 private sector employees in Istanbul. According to research findings, it is seen that both perceived discrimination dimensions (race/ethnicity based perceived discrimination and gender based perceived discrimination) have significant effects on job alienation. In this context, it is suggested that perceived discrimination of public and private sector employees can affect job alienation degree. It is also revealed that an employee who feels the perception of discrimination will contribute to the company less. Hence, an employee who perceived discrimination may face mental health problems on the process of job alienation. In other words, the presence of perceived discrimination of employees may cause an unhealthy work environment and unhealthy work process. Thereby, it is suggested to create merit-based processes where there is no discrimination. The theoritical contribution of this study is to fill the gap that exists in the field by investigating the relationship between perceived discrimination and job alienation providing a model.