Dealing with Institutional Sexism: the Coping Strategies of Hong Kong Clergywomen

Clergywomen in the male sphere of the deeply patriarchal and hierarchical church system are exposed to many types of gender maltreatment requiring them to constantly adapt and manage the challenges in their role. In this article, I examine how Hong Kong clergywomen cope when facing gravely oppressive and marginalising gender maltreatment at work. I identify four primary types of coping strategies: tolerance, defying the status quo, seeking external support, and quitting. Collectively, these coping behaviours are utilised by women ministers to endure and fulfil their ministerial callings in the face of discriminatory and oppressive actions of their colleagues. The article aims to raise awareness and draw attention to the prevailing conditions of institutional sexism within the church and to the need to address the enduring impacts of wounds inflicted on clergywomen.


Introduction
Women are much more likely than men to be subjected to unfair treatment through gender discrimination in a wide variety of circumstances (Swim et al., 1998, p. 47;Swim et al., 2001, p. 49). Clergywomen are not exempt from exposure to gender injustice but may be even more vulnerable to the detrimental impacts of institutional sexism inherent to the 'irrecoverably patriarchal' (Kawahashi, 2000, p. 85) ecclesiastical context (Robbins & Greene, 2018, p. 891). Being in a leadership role within the 'all male enclave' (Bagilhole, 2006, p. 109) of the profoundly gendered and androcentric church setting demands that clergywomen continually adapt and develop new ways to cope with the challenges inherent in their role.
I have previously researched the gendered maltreatment of Hong Kong clergywomen, and I classified three primary modes in which institutional sexism is manifested and pervasively experienced by Hong Kong clergywomen (Yih, 2023b). These three modes of gender maltreatment, identified and categorised as physical, emotional, and theological in nature as observed from the shared experiences of women in church leadership roles, 1 3 comprise a variety of constricting and marginalising attitudes and behaviours. Collectively, these gender-oppressive behaviours maintain and reinforce the power imbalance and injustice within the church, with abiding detrimental effects on the well-being of clergywomen. This article builds on these insights; after addressing the current state of institutional sexism in Hong Kong churches, it focuses on the coping strategies commonly employed by female ministers when encountering this constant gender maltreatment at work. A more comprehensive understanding of the various coping strategies utilised by clergywomen is crucial for raising awareness of the status quo of female leadership in the church and for helping to develop a support system to address the substantial health disparities created by institutional sexism.
This research is centred on data gathered in Hong Kong English-speaking churches. Therefore, the data presented are relevant within the idiosyncratic context of Hong Kong, which, in terms of institutional sexism, has previously been shown to be 'similar to the global context' (Foley et al., 2006, p. 197;Jackson & Muñoz-García, 2019;Johnson, 2005, p. 85) but which is nevertheless also especially disproportionate in terms of, for instance, access to leadership positions, which are occupied by men in 89% of cases (Yih, 2023a).
Hong Kong is a thriving metropolitan city in southeast Asia and is regarded as a "hybrid community" (Carroll, 2007, p.169) characterised by its diversity in cultures, languages, and religions. The predominant Hong Kong Chinese religion consists of a blend of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and traditional cultural practices such as ancestor worship, geomancy, and shamanism (Bosco, 2015, p.8). The Protestant community in Hong Kong constitutes around 10% of the Special Administrative Region's religious demographics, with over 1,500 churches representing an assortment of denominations (GovHK, 2016). The majority of these churches are Chinese-speaking, with roughly 60 being English-speaking (Ray Bakke Centre, 2016).
English-speaking churches have been selected as the context of focus because it is the author's natural research language. The methodology chosen for this study required the author to gather research data through a series of semistructured interviews to elicit deep and rich sharing from the participants. Being able to use the language in which the researcher and the participants were most proficient enabled the research process, which so deeply depends on the nuances of the verbal and nonverbal language captured, to take place without additional hurdles resulting from language barriers. Even though English-speaking churches constitute a minority of the local Protestant faith communities, it remains a suitable context to not only reflect the cultural, linguistic, and racial diversities idiosyncratic of Hong Kong but to also represent a context where potential instances of institutional sexism across faith communities in Hong Kong can be identified and examined. Although the data presented is specific to Hong Kong, the research holds value as a framework for studying coping behaviours in the face of discrimination in general, and the methodology and classifications developed can improve researchers' understanding of the situations of women facing institutional sexism in the global church.

Methodology
I employed the qualitative research methodology of interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine the lived experiences of eight ordained female ministers in their leadership roles within English-speaking churches in Hong Kong, a methodology I have explained in detail elsewhere (Yih, 2023b). The participants were recruited for semistructured interviews in order to elicit their individual experiences of gender discrimination at work. Following interpretative phenomenological analysis's guidelines for data gathering, analysis, and interpretation, different aspects of the shared experiences which emerged were collated and categorised into superordinate (higher-level), subordinate (minor-level) and minor themes, each supported with ample verbatim evidence. These themes collectively encapsulate the descriptive, linguistic, and conceptual essence which has emerged from the rich and detailed insights uncovered from the participants. An in-depth analysis resulted in the classification of the superordinate theme 'gendered maltreatments', which was addressed in Yih (2023b). That theme captures the pervasive presence of institutional sexism which bears upon the participants and is the primary cause of the observed detrimental impacts on their well-being. In this article, I turn to one of the subordinate themes, 'coping strategies', to explicate the different ways Hong Kong clergywomen respond to gender maltreatment at work. This subordinate theme will be presented with its corresponding minor themes in this article, supported by verbatim excerpts from participants' interviews. All names given to participants here are aliases.

Coping strategies
Coping has been defined as 'cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage specific external and/or mental demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person' (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, p. 142). Clergywomen who are called to enter the male sphere of the deeply gendered and hierarchical church context are continually subjected to an array of challenging demands related to institutional sexism, requiring them to call upon available resources to cope and to endure in their practice. Research dealing with coping mechanisms in the face of stressful situations at work or discrimination tends to rely on categorisations of coping behaviours. Research on occupational coping strategies has differentiated different styles of interaction with stressful situations into two types of behaviours: the 'approach' and the 'escape/avoidance' strategies (Anbazhagan & Rajan, 2013, p. 167). This categorisation very broadly divides coping strategies into either the proactive effort to manage stress-through, for instance, problem-solving-or the 'ineffective and unhappy' (Anbazhagan & Rajan, 2013, p. 168) way, such as relying on alcohol or drugs. Another example of a dual categorisation of the coping efforts of women in the face of discrimination divides said efforts into avoidance-oriented and self-defence practices (Aapola & Kangas, 1996, p. 411). In avoidance-oriented strategies, women deal with the challenges of gender inequity by adapting to the situation through modifying their behaviours or by circumventing anticipated situations of potential contact with sexism. Self-defence strategies represent the variety of measures adopted to manage the situation when facing sexism.
However, these kinds of dual categorisations of coping behaviours have been questioned for being overly simplistic (Carver et al., 1989, p. 267;Scheier et al., 1986Scheier et al., , p.1258, leading to subsequent research efforts that have revised the framework into a more nuanced delineation, one that is more effective in illuminating the multidimensional nature of responses in stressful transactions. An interesting proposal to complexify this classification is that of Ayers et al. (1996). They proposed a framework consisting of four dispositional types of coping strategies: active, support seeking, avoidance, and distraction. Active coping includes attempts to solve problems and to accentuate the positive aspects of the existing condition through cognitive reframing. Support-seeking coping describes efforts to draw 1 3 on tangible or emotional external resources, such as advice from peers or family members, in order to deal with the issue at hand. Avoidance coping refers to minimising encounters with the sources of distress, while distraction coping aims to offer a form of temporary respite to help with the ongoing encounter with and management of the problem.
While this expanded framework is useful for clarifying modes of coping efforts which would otherwise be indistinguishably assembled together in the dual models, the four categories are still not sufficient to capture the complexities involved in the responses of the clergywomen given below. My fine-grained analysis of the shared experiences of clergywomen facing institutional sexism in this article has generated themes and subthemes encapsulating the multiple aspects of the coping strategies employed. However, the themes that emerge match neither the dual nor the four-tier coping categorisations just mentioned. There are some points of convergence between them and the modes of coping I have identified, which I will highlight. However, to better align this research with the idiographic commitment of interpretative phenomenological analysis, I will focus on my own framework to portray the idiosyncratic coping behaviours of clergywomen under the following four themes: tolerance, seeking external support, defying the status quo, and quitting.

Coping behaviours observed in Hong Kong Clergywomen
Tolerance I have observed that the first category of coping strategies utilised by clergywomen is an array of behavioural and mental adaptations enabling them to tolerate and endure the challenging and depleting gender-discriminatory work conditions in the church. Although these strategies share points of convergence with some of the other classifications mentioned above such as avoidance-oriented and self-defence practices, this particular mode of coping is nevertheless a distinctive approach idiosyncratic to clergywomen. The primary distinguishing factor lies in the faith and the vocational calling of these clergywomen, which have been identified as the key motivating drive and sustaining reserves that enable them to endure, in contradistinction to the coping found in other occupational settings. In the following section, I explore the four identified strategies clergywomen have adopted to tolerate the oppressive and marginalising work conditions in the church: 'Get on with it', accepting and reconciling with disappointment, fulfilling the gendered expectations, and resignation. 'Get on with it' A predominant way in which clergywomen in Hong Kong were observed to cope with working in the oppressive 'toxic environment' (Lucy, line 87) was through an array of efforts expended to enable them to tolerate, to 'toughen up' (Nala, line 132), and to 'carry on' (Frances, line 51) in their role. One participant, Lucy, captured the shared sentiments of the participants this way: How did I cope? Yeah, good question.
[laughs] I mean, I spent, I was so [emphasised] busy in my work in ministering to people which I enjoyed. And I felt that's what I was called to do. . . . So that was that. You just have to try and get on with it. But I mean after a time, it just got so weary. (Lucy, Another participant shared similar sentiments about coping through immersion in her ministry and choosing not to dwell on the negative aspects too long. 'And I just keep going. I just keep doing what I am called to do and let things resolve by themselves. I just leave it and I just try to be myself... and we carry on' (Frances, line 51). This mode of coping in order to focus on the ministerial content in their role was commonly adopted in order to persevere through difficult and depleting work conditions for extended periods of time. For instance, one participant, Simone, reflected on how she 'reconciled' (line 32) the ongoing frustrations for over 12 years through tears and recognised that 'a lot of denial' (line 34) was required to 'try to be faithful' (line 40) and prevail in her role. Resonating with consistent findings in system justification research which demonstrate the association between the 'palliative function' (Suppes et al., 2019, p. 373) of denial and the improved subjective well-being of women facing prejudice in the LGBT community, the same alleviating function was found by the clergywomen in the present study in their employment of 'denial' (line 32) to buffer their tolerating capacity to cope with the distress that accompanies being a target of inequitable treatment in the church. The enhanced sense of control, stability, and meaning gained within the palliative function of denial, employed by both groups of women facing severe hostility, is crucial for coping with the continually deleterious impacts on their psychological health. Moreover, denial that minimises the direct acknowledgment of the extent of gender discrimination as part of a coping strategy is frequently utilised by women in senior leadership positions within customarily male-dominated arenas such as the police force (Napier et al., 2020(Napier et al., , p. 1192 and is applicable to clergywomen in the patriarchal church system. As a whole, this prevalent way of coping, which allows women to persist in their role by 'getting on', necessitates women's intentional choice to direct their focus towards fulfilling their vocation and assigned ministerial duties. At times, and especially when deciding to tolerate the taxing conditions over a prolonged period, conscious disengagement from or 'denial' (Simone, line 34) of the painful aspects of reality was also needed to enable enduring.
However, tolerating as a coping mechanism by focusing on ways to 'carry on' and not be incapacitated cannot be categorised with the framework of Ayers et al. (1996) mentioned above. While 'get on with it' contains elements resembling behaviours included within distraction or active strategies, it nevertheless differs from them in one key position. The focal points propelling the specific behaviours of 'get on with it' are the participants' underlying motivation 'to be faithful' (Simone, line 40), their love for the church (Simone, line 8), and their vocational calling (Lucy, line 199).
Accepting and reconciling with disappointment At times, tolerance as a coping mechanism entails a degree of accepting not only the reality of having to navigate the challenging oppressive sexism but also the associated gender expectations and treatments. As exemplified by Nala, coping sometimes means accepting and fulfilling the assigned role and not challenging the inequitable treatments and attitudes:

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Tolerance extends beyond refraining from overtly refusing or challenging gender expectations to include the effort to reconcile their frustration and disillusionment. Diane admitted to having to work with the continual feeling of disappointment in being excluded from the weekly clergy meeting: [S]o there are still exclusions. I mean we are still excluded from the male-only meetings. . . . I thought, it's been such a long time already so I am not going to stir [it up] now. I am still aware of it. Yeah. It is still disappointing. (lines 65-68).
Participants demonstrated that ongoing, conscious efforts are necessary to resolve the deep disappointment induced by remaining in the stance of acceptance. This was captured by Nala's reflection on her long 'struggle' (line 63) to come to terms with the role as children's minister she was appointed to by male leaders. This was done despite her clear calling to other areas of ministry and her multiple articulations of feeling 'uncomfortable' with her assigned role. She shared her feelings in coping with the decision: Constantly having to accept and manage disparities in expectations was emotionally depleting despite the participants' resolve to 'toughen up' (Nala, line 132). Their pain and frustration occasionally seeped out, reflecting the costly and cumulative toil on the participants in their efforts to cope. 'I just try to ask God why I am feeling this [pointing to her tear-streaked face] instead of just toughening up' (Nala, line 132).
In order to resolve the ongoing demand to reconcile frequent and seemingly unresolvable disappointment at work, some participants additionally adopted a stance of gratitude to help them tolerate and accept the status quo. One participant captured this determined stance to embrace a practice of thankfulness which helped her 'never complain' and be 'agreeable' (Ada, line 102). She continued, 'So, I just felt so grateful. For everything I have already here. I can never complain. I cannot complain, right? God has given me more than I ever, ever... [trails off]' (Ada, line 102).
This consistent reliance on embracing gratitude to help with tolerating gender inequality corresponds with findings from psychological research revealing women's strong tendency to rationalise in situations of discrimination, such as by making excuses to downsize the perceived gender oppression. The usage of such rationalising attitudes is high for women, in contradistinction to other groups disadvantaged by their group membership (e.g. racial group membership; Blee, 1994, p. 792;Gurin, 1985, p. 144). The reason for this contradistinction has been ascribed to the potential benefits derived by the individual women in their tolerance of patriarchy, which does not apply to other groups. In the case of the clergywomen, the benefits which may be reaped from supporting, or at least not confronting, the gender norms and expectations may be motivated by their avoidance of punitive treatments such as social isolation (Lucy, 72-75) or physical threats (Nala, 41-49), as described in further detail in the next section.
With the intention to endure and carry on with their role in the hostile work environment of the church, participants are required to tolerate and come to terms with ongoing disappointment. Efforts to reconcile frustration and to maintain the stance of acceptance are emotionally depleting and wounding, as exemplified by the participants' frequent display of overwhelming tears in their recounting of their experiences.
Fulfilling the gendered expectations Closely related to the determined acceptance of the undesirable status quo in the church is the effort to cope by following and even embracing the rules and expectations of the patriarchal system. Ada described her choice to cope this way: 'I try to be always so agreeable. I do whatever you ask me to do' (line 106). Another participant chose to cope by treading carefully around the 'bullying and intimidating' (Simone, line 129) behaviours of her male colleagues, which she described as 'like walking on eggshells' (line 138). Pervasive gendered expectations and maltreatment were observed in Hong Kong churches and showcased in Yih (2023b). These many discriminatory and oppressive behaviours experienced by the participants were identified to be physical, emotional, and theological in nature, demanding clergywomen to creatively cope in their leadership role. As an example, participants were subjected to constant pressure to submit to the authority of their male counterparts and were expected to remain silent and not express their opinions in meetings (Lucy, line 66). Failure to comply with the gendered expectations by challenging the status quo or speaking up were met with punitive treatments such as ostracism (Lucy, lines 72-75), whereby the clergywomen experienced being explicitly shunned and ridiculed by their male colleagues. Furthermore, participants shared experiences of being 'suffocated' (Georgianna, line 38) when being stripped of their rights to speak up through exposure to physical threats in extreme cases (Nala, lines 41-49) or to the more insidious but equally diminishing treatment of being disregarded (Ada, lines 113-115; Diane, lines 56, 65-68).
The pervasiveness and tolerance of similar oppressive and marginalising gender maltreatments were abundantly observed throughout the transcripts, varying only in the degree of gravity and specific manifestations of individual cases. The entrenched patriarchal system of the church was additionally observed to be reinforced through 'skewed' (Georgianna, line 31) theological teachings which accentuate and elevate the authority and headship of men over women, further perpetuating the power derivative between genders. Subjected to such conditions of institutional sexism, participants habitually coped by 'walking on eggshells' (Simone, 138) and having to expend a great deal of precious and limited emotional resources to tentatively and cautiously fulfil the gender expectations and to avoid experiencing negative punitive treatment.
Fulfilling and constantly 'surrendering or submitting' (Nala, line 100) to gendered expectations also includes the acceptance of, and the consequential need to cope with, the pressure associated with gendered assigned roles. The added strain from gendered expectations such as the stereotypical feminine nurturing role and the related caregiving responsibilities outside of the ministerial position of the clergywomen was portrayed by one participant, Nala, as 'pressure to be everything to everyone' (line 122). Her distress in the struggle to balance her roles as a minister, a wife, and a mother led her to feel 'strengthless' (line 118) and 'low in emotional well-being' (line 120).
Coping with the multiple challenges presented in 'dire' (Simone, line 15) institutional sexism for the participants went beyond focusing on the ministerial tasks to 'get on with it' or efforts to reconcile the disappointment and hurt experienced in their role to include also an acceptance of the imposed gendered expectations. The sustained pressure and need to implement coping strategies left the participants vulnerable to emotional depletion and sentiments of weariness (Lucy, line 199).

Resignation
The final visible way in which the participants coped and found ways to tolerate gender maltreatment included a range of responses resulting from their resignation to the disappointing, yet unavoidable, reality of their circumstances. Even though at first glance these responses based on resignation may seem very similar to the previously mentioned strategy of 'fulfilling gendered expectations', they vary in several aspects. Resignation here refers to the reactions resulting from the participants' prolonged attempts to cope through other means with no success, finally arriving at the realisation of the futility of trying to effect change. An acute sentiment of hopelessness and a deep conviction of the impossibility of an improved outcome underlie this distinctive form of coping. The sense of resignation and growing weariness which lie beneath this mode of coping was explained by one participant, Georgianna, this way: I had doubts if I would ever be able to influence the church. But to be honest, the church? It is like a mountain. We can only hammer all we want, but we are dealing with a mountain. It is an impossible task. (lines 44-45) Coping in resignation was observed to manifest through behaviours resembling acceptance, such as conforming with the expectations to be submissive and remaining silent in meetings (Lucy, line 74). Other forms of compliance were visible in participants' decisions to give up pursuing change and to not seek to challenge the long-established status quo. As an example, Diane shared her decision, after two decades in ministry, to live with disappointment and no longer strive for ways to directly confront, or 'stir' (line 67) the ongoing exclusion of women ministers from clergy meetings (lines 65-68). The decision to not confront the 'countless instances of bullying and intimidating' behaviour and treatment was also communicated by others, such as Lucy (line 168).
Another manifestation of resignation was revealed in the participants' relative lack of help-seeking behaviour. In place of efforts to seek external help or to expose the 'horrendous' (Lucy, line 100) and 'dire' (Simone, line 15) reality of their experiences, the participants were observed at times to cover up the detrimental impacts and their woundedness by putting on a brave face or, as Lucy put it, her 'smiley self', for the sake of the wider church community (Lucy, line 96). The essential underlying cause of these coping behaviours is the growing sense of being overwhelmed by the enormity of the undertaking and the correlated perceived powerlessness.

Seeking external support
Some clergywomen demonstrated a proactive pursuit of external resources, despite their scarcity, in order to persevere through the challenging work environment. My analysis of the data shows four primary sources of external support accessed by the clergywomen: family, faith, peers, and pastoral supervision. This mode of behaviour corresponds to one of the four types of dispositional coping strategies mentioned in Ayers et al.'s (1996) proposed framework: support seeking.
Family Participants showed an attempt to elicit emotional and tangible support from their family members as additional resources to help them deal with the difficult and taxing issues they faced at work. For example, Lucy mentioned her husband as a significant source of comfort and strength for her in times of doubts and challenges. 'My husband, he supported me.... I would go home and unburden myself on him. At least he was my safe place and I could talk about things with him' (lines 200-201). Nala also shared her habitual need to look to her husband as a source of strength to 'complement' her in the struggles she encountered in ministry. 'But we know each other so intimately so we can call each other out and be a real source of support for each other when we are struggling.... We can complement the other whom we really know' (line 99). All the participants expressed their deep reliance on the resources from their family to endure the gravely wounding impacts sustained in their work role.
Faith Another primary provision of support was obtained through the participants' religious belief, as shown by Diane, who habitually turned to scriptures in times of need to gain strength and comfort. . . . and if they [her male colleagues] want to carry on being this exclusive male club, so be it. And so, I decided to invite the other female clergy in the other churches whom I know and we started our own female clergy meeting ourselves. And maybe we need a female group to support one another as sisters together? To be there for one another, to be able to have a system that I can call if I feel like giving it all up. (lines 38-40) The routine gathering of the participants has become a much-cherished avenue which is experienced as safe and reliable for mutual support and processing of work-related challenges, as testified by Lucy: I mean the group that supported me was the international women clergy group . . . yes, they supported me. There was at least a safe space [where] we would talk about what was going on in ministry. (Lucy,line 200) Pastoral supervision The enormous benefits of peer support generated from the 'safe space' (Lucy, line 200) of the clergywomen's meeting illustrated above were also found by one participant, Diane, in her experience with her pastoral supervisor.
I had a brilliant supervisor. . . . I could often talk to her about the disappointment in my faith and in my administration, and she helped me a lot. If I didn't have that supervisor, counsellor, older white woman that I could talk to, yeah . . . I would not have settled with . . . my resentment and anger, so that helped me a lot. . . . That I could have talked to and see her perspective, it helped a lot. She was a part of my coping tools.
[smiles] (lines 72-74) The access to this additional resource of an experienced mentor on a regular basis to process work-related challenges from a Christian perspective was not common for the clergywomen. Diane was the only participant with this 'privilege' (Diane, line 75). 'We clergies do not have mentors. We don't have people that we can go and talk to. Yeah, and I had the privilege of having my supervisor, my counsellor, my confidant.' (Diane, line 75).
In order to survive and thrive in the demanding and 'toxic' (Lucy, line 87) work conditions, clergywomen are in constant need of support to allow them to 'carry on' (Frances, line 51) in their role. However, besides the resources of their personal faith and the support from their families, there is an absence of accessible resources to fulfil this 'dire' (Simone, line 15) need at work. The paucity of available resources and the lack of an established system such as pastoral supervision, which was only available to one participant, to equip and sustain the clergywomen in facing the persistent onslaught of gendered maltreatment played a critical role in the observed weariness of the participants.

Defying the status quo
Aside from contending with the oppressive maltreatment through tolerating or by seeking external resources presented above, some of the clergywomen also displayed a more proactive tactic for dealing with the stressful situations by defying the status quo. I identified three types of behaviours in the clergywomen's efforts to defy the status quo. These responses are their refusal to accept the enforced gender role assignations, standing firm in their vocational calling, and telling their stories. Collectively, these coping strategies reflect and resonate with the broader activism of nonviolent protest actions to defy the status quo of gender discrimination, stereotyping, and injustice and parallel those defined as 'approach' and 'active' in the abovementioned dual and four-tier coping categorisations, respectively.

Refusal to accept the gendered role assignations
The clergywomen demonstrated an attempt to challenge the status quo by objecting to the gender division of labour assigned by their male counterparts. For instance, Diane shared her experience in contesting the automatic assumption that she would fulfil the role of 'the refreshment lady' (line 90) or 'the secretary' (line 93) simply because she was the only woman present.
I am wondering about . . . the distinctive role that I, as a female, would automatically be led to take up? For example, I am often the person people assumed who would arrange for coffee to be available and to make sure everyone has something to drink. Be the refreshment lady. . . . If I walked into a church committee meeting as the only female, I would be immediately assigned secretary. Just Standing firm in their vocational calling Another example of defying the status quo was revealed in the participants' clear and firm stance in their vocational calling (and the corresponding fulfilment of their pastoral responsibilities) despite overt pressure from male counterparts. Francis reflected on her experience of having to resolutely and repeatedly decline requests to make room for clergymen who wished to take over clergywomen's pastoral role or space. She encountered multiple requests by male clergy from other churches hoping to use their church venue for weddings: And, like, I'm in charge of the marriage ministry . . . there are pastors who would call me . . . to request for a male pastor to officiate the wedding instead of me because they prefer that . . . they would say, in our teaching no female ministers should be preaching or you know, officiating ceremony in public. . . . I usually respond like this . . . 'I'm sorry because in this church we treat both men and women equally and we have assigned female pastors to take care of weddings. But if you cannot accept, then maybe it is better for you to find another venue for your congregants to be married in' . . . and then I would end the conversation there. (Frances,. It is worth pointing out that the frequent requests the clergywomen received to surrender their ordained priestly rights is an accurate reflection of the serious gender maltreatment which the participants were pervasively exposed to. In an earlier article on gender maltreatment in Hong Kong churches, I identified various modes of gender-marginalising practices which collectively serve a silencing function to diminish the audibility and visibility of clergywomen (Yih, 2023b). One of these practices was 'banishment from priestly role', describing the explicit, gender-based marginalising actions to disacknowledge clergywomen's status and authority. Such modes of segregating behaviours range from undermining bullying conducts such as name-calling (Lucy, lines 81-83) and ostracism (Lucy,line 72) to the prohibition of 'venturing out' (Diane, 93) to male-assigned roles and priestly duties such as officiating in baptism and communion (Simone, line 48). The ability to resist and boldly confront such undermining and discriminatory gender treatment by male colleagues is, not surprisingly, rare in light of the acute punitive consequences entailed in such modes of defiance for the participants.
Telling their stories Defying the status quo also includes refusing to collude with the denial of the fact that gender inequity is still a prevalent reality in the church. Several participants expressed their enthusiasm in taking part in this research and saw this as a way to defy the status quo. For example, the clergywomen understood that 'telling their stories' (Simone, line 2) or 'speaking up' (Diane, line 3) could further expose the persistence of gender discrimination in the church and 'can make a difference' (Diane, line 3). Diane explained her decision to take part in my research this way: I realise how important it is that we as women clergy, our voices, our experiences [sic]. If we don't speak up, nothing can change . . . and if there is research, it means someone is investigating and from there changes can happen. But if we just keep quiet and hide, no change can ever happen. (lines 2-4) This sentiment of hoping that research can raise awareness and expose the reality was echoed by Lucy: I decided to take part because I think it is important for women's stories and things to be heard and the reality of ministry . . . ummm, and I think particularly here in Hong Kong . . . in terms of hearing how it actually is? . . . In terms of how women clergy have been treated [it] is not what I would expect to be allowed to take place in 2021. (Lucy, line 2)

Quitting
A final mode of coping adopted by the participants was the decision to leave the job after an extended period of trying to cope using the above-mentioned strategies. This coping strategy does not resemble the other frameworks mentioned and could seem to be unique to clergywomen facing institutional sexism at work. I have decided to include quitting as an actual coping behaviour because it is a strategy utilised by the clergywomen to manage the challenges presented at work. Unlike the common understanding of quitting as giving up or as a determined turning away from the original trajectory in pursuing a goal, the participants' 'quitting' was more like a temporary pause or suspension from the set trajectory. The participants were not quitting their vocational calling of being a minister, but rather they were temporarily stepping away from the 'toxic environment' (Lucy, line 87) to manage the impacts of their prolonged exposure to gender maltreatment. After a period, almost all participants returned to a leadership role in a new church setting.
Interestingly, this is one of the most common coping strategies observed in the data, with six out of the eight participants having made this difficult choice at some point in their ministerial careers. These participants shared an acute sense of disillusionment and exhaustion, having expended decades of their ministerial life enduring and having made persistent efforts to challenge sexist treatment. Unlike distraction as a form of coping, which relies on temporary respite to enable the person to return and carry on in the same challenging conditions, the gravity and pervasiveness of the discriminatory work conditions experienced by the clergywomen in this case demands an alternate means of coping. Quitting as an option for the participants was repeatedly revealed in the data to be a difficult decision and was only embraced as the last resort when all the other resources available had been adopted. Lucy's reflection encapsulated this sentiment of being overwhelmed and exhausted: Yeah, that's the way it works here. I mean, I've never worked in such a toxic environment in my life until here. . . . I finally see the structures and things here just will not allow for things to be changed. . . . And I remember I was on my way home on the train and crying. And I could only think, thank God it's over. (lines 87-94) Furthermore, the pivotal decision was commonly grounded on the utter depletion of the participants' mental well-being (Ada, line 99; Georgianna, lines 44-45; Simone, line 28) and their conviction that it was an 'impossible task' (Georgianna, line 45) to influence the church by their efforts. Georgianna described her decision to leave her leadership role this way: I had to leave and not fight the church for your rights anymore, you know. These ten years . . . it really took me a long and hard time to stand up again. . . . I was feeling so powerless. I was not supported. . . . I did not sleep for the first year. . . . I really was so fragile and powerless. . . . I had doubts if I would ever be able to influence the church. . . . It is an impossible task. (lines 44-45) The decision to suspend the active practice of their professional role did not come easily, and even with the difficult decision made, the participants reported needing a lengthy recovery from the cumulative detrimental impacts of the 'toxic environment' (Lucy, line 87).

Conclusion
Clergywomen's immersion in the 'all male enclave' (Bagilhole, 2006, p. 109) of the patriarchal church setting and exposure to the corresponding gender injustices have demanded that they continually adapt and seek out new ways to cope with the challenges they face in their role. In this article, I have presented four coping strategies utilised by clergywomen when managing institutional sexism within the unique context of Hong Kong churches: tolerance, seeking external support, defying the status quo, and quitting. I have identified these categories to create a more nuanced framework than previously available. They encapsulate the complex and multidimensional aspects of coping behaviours idiosyncratic to clergywomen.
These four modes of behaviour can be understood to reflect the escalating gravity and pervasiveness of the existing oppression and the participants' diminished perceived ability to withstand or to effect change with the available resources. The ultimate goal-to fulfil or to 'carry on' (Frances, 51) with their vocational calling as ordained ministers-necessitated a host of tolerating actions to endure and reconcile the plethora of adverse experiences from the prevalent gendered maltreatment suffered by the participants in their role. However, as explicated above, determined efforts to persist through tolerance alone were not always sufficient to manage the challenges encountered by clergywomen. In these circumstances, other coping strategies were called for, such as seeking external support and implementing efforts to defy the status quo. Despite their implementation of these behaviours and their diligent commitment to their calling, the majority of the participants finally had to make the difficult choice to quit as their final coping strategy.
Consistent with research evidence on the close association of perceived gender discrimination and women's mental health (Hosang & Bhui, 2018, p. 683) and subjective well-being (Napier et al., 2020(Napier et al., , p. 1193, the clergywomen's escalated perception of their persistent oppression resulted in the difficult decision to leave their position after decades of faithful dedication. This article showcases the situation for clergywomen within Hong Kong churches, which has been revealed to parallel the global context in terms of institutional sexism (Johnson, 2005, p. 85), and allows for a better understanding of how women may respond to discrimination in the workplace. The combination of prolonged exposure to the 'toxic environment' (Lucy, line 87) and the gravity of the oppressive impacts, coupled with the absence of available resources to support and equip the clergywomen, intensified their vulnerability to abiding trauma in the aftermath. I hope that this deepened and clarified understanding of the 'dire' (Simone, line 15) conditions of clergywomen in coping with gender injustice will stimulate further attention to promoting equitable treatment and timely support for women so they may faithfully serve in their vocational role.

Conflict of interest
The author declares no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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