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Do professional women have lower job satisfaction than professional men? Lawyers as a case study

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, April, 1998 by Charlotte Chiu

A central paradox in studies of gender and job satisfaction is why women's job satisfaction is not lower than men's, given that women's jobs are often inferior in terms of pay, autonomy, and promotional opportunity. I have reviewed over 30 studies that look at gender differences in job satisfaction or determinants of job satisfaction. Repeatedly in the literature it is stated that the findings are inconsistent. Some studies report that women have higher job satisfaction, some studies find that men are more satisfied, and others find no significant difference. (Quinn, Staines and McCullough 1974; Mortimer, Finch and Maruyama 1988). One of the most often-cited studies of gender differences in job satisfaction is a report by Quinn, Staines and McCullough (1974). In a review of five national surveys, they found men were more satisfied in 3 surveys, and women were more satisfied in 2 surveys. The gap ranged from 2 to 7 percentage points and was intermittently significant. They imply that there is no overall difference in job satisfaction by gender. Agassi (1982) found virtually the identical level of job satisfaction among women in the U.S. However, in Germany, women had higher mean satisfaction, and in Israel, men had higher mean satisfaction. In this study, my comments will pertain to job satisfaction in the U.S. and Canada.

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Several explanations have been proposed for women's high satisfaction. The explanation most commonly used is that women have lower expectations than men because they compare themselves to women while men compare themselves to men. Secondly, women may be socialized not to express discontent (Hodson 1989; Hagan and Kay 1995:156). A third explanation, elaborated below, is that women and men may value different characteristics in a job.

Determinants of Job Satisfaction

Studies which have examined gender differences in determinants of job satisfaction have also been inconsistent. Some studies find gender differences. Murray and Atkinson (1981) conclude that eight studies show in general that women attach more importance to social aspects, and men place greater value on pay, advancement, and other extrinsic features. Their own findings support this conclusion. (See also Quinn et al. 1974; Voydanoff 1980; and Golding, Resnick, and Crosby 1983.) One hypothesis is that women's job satisfaction is more affected by family needs than men's are. (See Mortimer, Finch, and Maruyama 1988:113). Quinn et al. (1974) found that women placed more importance than men did on travel time from home, perhaps because of women's home responsibilities. Martin and Hanson (1985) hypothesized that determinants of job satisfaction vary by whether a person is the breadwinner in the household. As expected, they found that convenience was more important for the job satisfaction of nonbreadwinning women than for others. Rosenbach, Dailey, and Morgan (1979) found some gender differences, but attribute those to women's lower positions on the hierarchy (Kanter 1977). Other studies find that determinants of job satisfaction are very similar for women and men (Weaver 1978; Hodson 1989). Hodson (1989) concluded what differences there are in determinants of job satisfaction are quite small and may not be substantively meaningful.

Related to the idea that women and men differ in what they want is the idea that gender differences may be found in satisfaction with specific aspects of one's job. In an analysis of the 1973 Survey of Working Conditions, Quinn, Mangione, and Baldi de Mandilovitch (1973) found that women were significantly less satisfied than men with the financial rewards and challenge their jobs provided. In contrast, Penley and Hawkins (1980) analyzed workers in one firm (N = 264) and found no significant gender differences on satisfaction with pay.

Usage of Control Variables

Some of the inconsistent findings are probably due to varying usage of control variables. Hulin and Smith (1964) found that in three of four plants, female workers were significantly less satisfied than male workers, and that females were more dissatisfied with promotional opportunities than any other facets of their jobs. Hulin and Smith speculated that women's lower satisfaction resulted from variables which covaried with gender, for example, rank and promotional opportunities. They point out that in one of the four plants, women did not have lower satisfaction, and conclude that situational factors are probably also important. Rosenbach, Dailey, and Morgan (1979) also found that men had significantly higher job satisfaction, but in their sample of workers in procurement (N = 123), women had lower-ranking jobs relative to the men.

According to Hulin and Smith's hypothesis, gender differences in job satisfaction would disappear when important covariates are controlled. In accord with their prediction, Crosby (1982) found that higher dissatisfaction among females was no longer significant when age and salary were used as covariates.

In contrast, Hodson (1989) did not find this pattern. In his 1975 sample of over 5000 Wisconsin respondents, women had significantly higher job satisfaction. Controlling for 12 job characteristics, as well as family responsibilities and variables intended to measure personal expectations, he found that women still had higher job satisfaction. Hodson suggests the outcome may be due to women using women as a reference group, or women's hesitance to complain. Murray and Atkinson (1981) found no overall gender differences in a Canadian national sample, but found that women had higher job satisfaction when occupational class, income, tenure, danger, and tiredness were held constant. They also attribute the outcomes to women's lower expectations.

Health Care Industry

Do professional women have lower job satisfaction than professional men? Lawyers as a case study

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, April, 1998 by Charlotte Chiu

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