Structured interviews were conducted with 1,115 male and 271 female professional employees of a major American corporation. Statistically significant gender differences were found in each of three objective job characteristics (job title, salary grade, and number of employees supervised), whereas few significant gender differences were found in subjective job characteristics (intrinsic and importance rewards, peer cohesion, staff support, role conflict, role ambiguity, and quantitative workload). Multiple regression equations were used to predict subjective job characteristics from objective job characteristics, personality factors, family circumstances, and educational attainment. The factors associated with subjective job characteristics were similar for men and women. For both men and women, personality factors were the strongest predictors, followed by objective job characteristics. Family-related variables and educational attainment were not strongly associated with subjective job characteristics for men or for women. The relationship between objective and subjective job characteristics are discussed in terms of “job” and “gender” models of job perceptions.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Baron, J. N.
, & Bielby, W. T. (1985). Organizational barriers to gender equality: Sex segregation of jobs and opportunities. In A. Rossi (Ed.), Gender and the life course (pp. 233-251). New York: Aldine.
2.
Bridges, W. P.
, & Berk, R. A. (1974). Determinants of white collar income: An evaluation of equal pay for equal work. Social Science Research, 3, 211-234.
3.
Bromet, E. J.
, Parkinson, D. K., Curtis, E. C., Schulberg, H. C., Blane, H., Dunn, L. O., Phelan, J., Dew, M. A., & Schwartz, J. E. (1989). Epidemiology of depression and alcohol abuse/dependence in a managerial and professional work force. Journal of Occupational Medicine, 32, 989-995.
4.
Caplan, R.
, Cobb, S., French, J., Harrison, R., & Pinneau, S. (1980). Job demands and worker health. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research.
5.
Crosby, F.
(1982). Relative deprivation and working women. New York: Oxford University Press.
6.
Derogatis, L. R.
, Lipman, R. S., Rickels, K., Uhlenhuth, E. H., & Covi, L. (1974). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL): A self-report symptom inventory. Behavioral Science, 19, 1-15.
7.
Etzion, D.
(1984). Moderating effect of social support on the stress-burnout relationship. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69, 615-622.
8.
Etzion, D.
(1988). The experience of burnout and work/non-work success in male and female engineers: A matched-pairs comparison. Human Resource Management, 27, 163-179.
9.
Featherman, D. L.
, & Hauser, R. M. (1976). Sexual inequalities and socioeconomic achievement in the U.S., 1962-1973. American Sociological Review, 41, 462-483.
10.
Feldberg, R. L.
, & Glenn, E. N. (1982). Male and female: Job versus gender models in the sociology of work. In R. Kahn-Hut, A. K. Daniels, & R. Colvard (Eds.), Women and work: Problems and perspectives (pp. 65-80). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
11.
Fox, M. F.
, & Hesse-Biber, S. (1984). Women at work. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
12.
Fry, L. W.
, & Greenfeld, S. (1980). An examination of attitudinal differences between police women and policemen. Journal of Applied Psychology, 65, 123-126.
13.
Haynes, S. G.
, Levine, S., Scotch, N., Feinleib, M., & Kannel, W. B. (1978). The relationship of psychosocial factors to coronary heart disease in the Framingham study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 107, 362-383.
14.
Hibbard, J. H.
, & Pope, C. R. (1987). Employment characteristics and health status among men and women. Women and Health, 12, 85-102.
15.
Hodson, R.
(1989). Gender differences in job satisfaction: Why aren't women more dissatisfied?The Sociological Quarterly, 30, 385-399.
16.
House, J. S.
, McMichael, A. J., Wells, J. A., Kaplan, B. H., & Landerman, L. R. (1979). Occupational stress and health among factory workers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 20, 139-160.
17.
Jacobs, J. A.
(1989). Long-term trends in occupational segregation by sex. American Journal of Sociology, 95, 160-173.
18.
Kanter, R. M.
(1977). Men and women of the corporation. New York: Basic Books.
19.
Kemp, A. A.
, & Beck, E. M. (1986). Equal work, unequal pay. Work and Occupations, 13, 324-347.
20.
Lowe, G. S.
, & Northcott, H. C. (1988). The impact of working conditions, social roles, and personal characteristics on gender differences in distress. Work and Occupations, 25, 55-77.
21.
Lorence, J.
(1987). A test of “gender” and “jobs” models of sex differences in job involvement. Social Forces, 66, 121-139.
22.
Loscocco, K. A.
(1990). Reactions to blue-collar work. Work and Occupations, 17, 152-177.
23.
Loscocco, K. A.
, & Spitze, G. (1990). Working conditions, social support, and the well-being of female and male factor workers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 31, 313-327.
24.
Loscocco, K. A.
, & Spitze, G. (1991). The organizational context of women's and men's pay satisfaction. Social Science Quarterly, 72, 3-19.
25.
Middlestadt, S. E.
, & Fishbein, M. (1988). Health and occupational correlates of perceived occupational stress in symphony orchestra musicians. Journal of Occupational Medicine, 30, 687-692.
26.
Moos, R.
(1981). Work environment scale manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
27.
Northcott, H. C.
, & Lowe, G. S. (1987). Job and gender influences in the subjective experience of work. Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 24, 117-131.
28.
Oaxaca, R.
(1973). Sex discrimination in wages. In O. Ashenfelter & A. Rees (Eds.), Discrimination in labor markets. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
29.
Pearlin, L. I.
, & Schooler, C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 19, 2-21.
30.
Phelan, J. (1991). Gender differences in equity at work. Unpublished doctoral dissertation.
31.
Richard, G. V.
, & Krieshok, T. S. (1989). Occupational stress, strain, and coping in university faculty. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 34, 117-132.
32.
Roos, P. A.
(1981). Sex stratification in the workplace: Male/female differences in economic returns to occupations. Social Science Research, 10, 195-224.
33.
South, S. J.
, Markham, W. T., Bonjean, C. M., & Corder, J. (1987). Sex differences in support for organizational advancement. Work and Occupations, 14, 261-285.
34.
Statham, A.
, Vaughan, S., & Houseknecht, S. K. (1987). The professional involvement of highly educated women: The impact of family. The Sociological Quarterly, 28, 119-133.
35.
Touliatos, J.
, Bedian, A. G., Mossholder, K. W., & Barkman, A. I. (1984). Job-related perceptions of male and female government, industrial, and public accountants. Social Behavior and Personality, 12, 61-68.
36.
Treiman, D. J.
, & Hartmann, H. I. (Eds.). (1981). Women, work, and wages: Equal pay for jobs of equal value. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
37.
Tung, R. L.
(1980). Comparative analysis of the occupational stress profiles of male versus female administrators. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 17, 344-355.
38.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
. (1987). Male-female differences in work experience, occupation, and earnings: 1984 current population report, P-70, No. 10. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
39.
Wolf, W. C.
, & Fligstein, N. D. (1979). Sex and authority in the workplace. American Sociological Review, 44, 235-252.
40.
Yammarino, F. J.
, & Dubinsky, A. J. 91988). Employee responses: Gender- or job-related differences?Journal of Vocational Behavior, 32, 366-383.
41.
Zappert, L. T.
, & Weinstein, H. M. (1985). Sex differences in the impact of work on physical and psychological health. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 1174-1178.
