Gender Composition and Job Satisfaction: Are People Happier in Gender Segregated Jobs?

• In Event: 589 - Regular Session. Gender Bias, Segregation, and Opportunities at Work

Abstract

Despite much attention being given to explaining the "paradox of the contended female worker", one aspect of the relationship between gender and job satisfaction has received relatively little consideration in the sociological literature: the gender composition of occupations. Gender composition is theoretically important in several ways. First, exploring the relationship between gender composition and job satisfaction may provide insights into the reference groups used by workers (sex-specific vs. coworker-specific). Second, by analyzing this relationship we can observe how token and majority statuses influence job satisfaction differently for men and women (Kanter 1977). Finally, gender composition can be used to test how social conflict (Blalock 1967) affects the job satisfaction of both men and women. Using longitudinal data from the NLSY79, we explore what the effects of occupational gender composition are for job satisfaction. We use ordered logit random effects models and find that gender composition appears to exhibit a non-linear relationship with job satisfaction. When looking at the entire sample, respondents in gender homogeneous occupations tend to be more satisfied than respondents in diverse occupations. This general pattern holds regardless of whether the respondent is a member of the gender-majority or gender-minority - though being a member of the gender-majority has a stronger positive impact on job satisfaction. This finding best supports Blalock's theory of intergroup conflict. In gender-specific models, the pattern of respondents being more satisfied in gender-homogenous occupations holds for females, but not males.

Authors

• Jonathan Dirlam, The Ohio State University

• Martin Kosla, The Ohio State University