Gender and Perceptions Of the Job Environment In the U.S. Air Force

Abstract

This paper examines Kanter's thesis that sex differences in the way people perceive their employing organization are attributable to three organizational determinants: opportunity, power, and relative numbers. Particular focus is placed upon Kanter's argument concerning the relative numbers variable. Using an Air Force attitudinal survey, the research analyzes overall male and female attitudes about these three determinants. The figures are then broken down and considered with respect to five career fields with varying sex ratios. The findings suggest that men's and women's attitudes toward organizations are quite different. While men are more satisfied with the organizational climate, women care more about the nature of the job itself. Little evidence supports Kanter's hypothesis about relative numbers since differential sex ratios in the groups examined here do not yield the expected attitudinal differences. To better explain the study's findings, a bidimensional model is proposed. This model argues that the sex ratio and the perceived female traditionality of the work best explain women's attitudes.