Gender Differences in Job Satisfaction

Abstract

The competing hypotheses of socialization, structural, and social role theories were used to investigate the possible existence of gender differences in job satisfaction. The hypotheses were tested in a sample of over 13,000 U.S. employees from approximately 130 organizations and divisions across a variety of industries. The organizations were clients of a North American-based management consulting company. T tests and effect sizes were calculated to test for the possible existence of group differences in job satisfaction between women and men in both clerical and managerial positions. The results indicate support for structural theory, some support for social role theory, and a lack of support for socialization theory. An important finding is that U.S. women and men in management apparently did not differ from one another in their sources of satisfaction at work.