Skip navigation

Gender composition at work and women's career satisfaction: an international study of 35 societies

Gender composition at work and women's career satisfaction: an international study of 35 societies

Terpstra‐Tong, Jane L. Y., Treviño, Len J., Yaman, Alara Cansu, Froese, Fabian Jintae ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2220-4250, Ralston, David A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6003-2184, Bozionelos, Nikos ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5644-8109, Furrer, Olivier, Tjemkes, Brian, León‐Darder, Fidel, Li, Yongjuan, Fu, Pingping, Molteni, Mario, Palmer, Ian, Tučková, Zuzana, Szabo, Erna, Poeschl, Gabrielle, Hemmert, Martin, de la Garza Carranza, María Teresa, Suzuki, Satoko, Srinivasan, Narasimhan, Ruiz Gutiérrez, Jaime, Ricard, Antonin, Buzady, Zoltan, Sigala Paparella, Luis, Naidoo, Vik ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4889-0730, Kangasniemi‐Haapala, Maria, Dalgic, Tevfik, Potocan, Vojko, Fang, Yongqing, Burns, Calvin ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5435-3114, Crowley‐Henry, Marian, Lasio Morello, Virginia, Pekerti, Andre ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5863-2500, Seyed Mehdi, Shabnam, Aldousari, Abdullah A. and Baltazar Herrera, Maya (2024) Gender composition at work and women's career satisfaction: an international study of 35 societies. Human Resource Management Journal. pp. 1-31. ISSN 0954-5395 (Print), 1748-8583 (Online) (doi:10.1111/1748-8583.12570)

[thumbnail of VoR]
Preview
PDF (VoR)
47976_BURNS_Gender_composition_at_work_and_womens_career_satisfaction_An_international_study_of_35_societies.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

Download (837kB) | Preview

Abstract

Drawing from status characteristics theory, we develop a multilevel model to explain the relationships between gender composition (e.g., female-female supervisor-subordinate dyads, a female majority at the next higher level, and a female majority at the same job level) in the workplace and women's career satisfaction. We hypothesise that working with a female supervisor and a female majority at the same level will be negatively related to women's career satisfaction, while a female majority at the next higher level will be positively related to women's career satisfaction. Moreover, we propose that formal societal (gender-equality) institutions and informal cultural (gender-egalitarian) values, each has a moderating effect on the impact of gender compositions on women's career satisfaction. Our results from a multilevel analysis of 2291 women across 35 societies support the three hypothesised main effects. Whereas institutions that support gender equality weaken the positive effect of working with a female majority at the next higher level, they amplify the negative effect of a female majority at the same hierarchical level. Our findings highlight the complex and paradoxical nature of gender composition effects on women's career satisfaction. We discuss the theoretical contributions of our findings and their implications for the diversity management practices of multinational enterprises.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE
Uncontrolled Keywords: career satisfaction; gender status beliefs; intragender competition / cooperation; paradox; queen bee phenomenon; status characteristics theory
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences
Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Last Modified: 12 Sep 2024 14:45
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/47976

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics