This paper revisits the paradox of the contended female worker using a
large-scale matched employer-employee survey of British workplaces. We
document the presence of a sizeable gap in job satisfaction in favour
of women that is partially explained by gender segregation in the
workplace. Bender et al (2005) argue that in the US these statistical
correlations are due to an omitted variable bias – workplaces
dominated by women offer greater job-flexibility and women value this
more than men. We test for the impact of gender segregation at the
workplace on job satisfaction and find evidence to validate the claim
that women are happier working in female dominated workplaces; even
after controlling for measurement error in self-response by using
firm-level data on gender segregation. When we check whether family
friendly policies mediate this segregation driven satisfaction gap we
find that flexibility improves job satisfaction independently of the
gender composition of the workplace, which remains a significant
determinant of the gap in the UK.. The gender gap in job satisfaction
remains robust, albeit reduced, to careful consideration of family
commitments and part-time status. Our results indicate that although
women prefer female dominated workplaces, this is not because of
family friendly policies.
Presented by:
Rosa Fernandez (University of Oxford)
Date & time:
October 23, 2006 3:00 pm - October 22, 2006 11:00 pm
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