Gender as a Moderator of Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Based on data gathered from a large Australian federal organization, the present study examines the potential moderating effects of gender on the relationships between various personal and organizational characteristics and employee job satisfaction. Using controlled (n= 168) and representative (n= 298) samples of males, compared to an enumeration of female employees (n= 335), gender is shown to exert a slight impact on the relationship between age and length of service as this relates to job satisfaction. Gender interacts more noticeably with the work values of security, autonomy, and use of abilities when related to employee job satisfaction. These findings are discussed in the context of gender differences in organizational power and opportunity structure predicted by Kanter.

The Gender Structure of the Nursing Hierarchy: The Role of Human Capital

“…However, there appear to be differences between women and men in the relationship between years of experience and promotion. Length of service has been shown to have little effect on access to promotion for men, although it does affect access for women (Neil and Snizek, 1988). However, controlling for length of full‐time service, men still appear to have an advantage over women in access to promotion (Phelan et al , 1993).…”

“…In general, women receive few workplace rewards for experience (Neil and Snizek, 1988; Walsh, 1993). For men lack of experience may not be a bar to promotion.…”

The Paradox of the Contented Female Worker in a Traditionally Female Industry

“…Amidst unequal rewards, women continue to report similar levels of satisfaction because they value promotion, authority, and salary less than men. Instead, women value coworker support and workplace atmosphere (Kanter 1977;Rowe and Snizek 1995;Neil and Snizek 1988). Specific tests have resulted in mixed support for the differential job values perspective.…”

Inter-ethnic coexistence in Israeli plants: the job experiences and attitudes of Arab and Jewish workers

“…The regression coef cients for the gender variable that are reported in Table 3 indicate job satisfaction tends to be 0.6 to 0.7 lower (on a ve-point scale) for females than for males with comparable employment situations. In the past, gender differences in job satisfaction have been explained in terms of job status differences (Golding, Resnick and Crosby 1983;Neil and Snizek 1988). However, in our sample, the signi cance of the gender variable does not change as we consider job status and/or job treatment variables in Steps 3 and 4.…”