Gender differences and Job Satisfaction - Research Paper Example

Although subjective variable on gender difference and job satisfaction are of traditional interest to sociology and psychology researchers, many of the existing studies analyzing gender have been conducted in the field of economics for example Asadullah and Fernández, 2007; Sloane and Williams, 2000). There has been an increase in research especially in the field of management targeting gender differences affect job satisfaction among employees in different occupations. A key area of interest has been why women report almost equal or higher levels of job satisfaction when studies have shown they generally occupy inferior job positions compared to those occupied by men.

Consequently, this scenario has led to investigations to find out how job satisfaction of female employees compares with that of male employees and what possible explanations accounts for the existing gender differences in job satisfaction. Therefore, the paper will rely on a number of empirical researches that investigate gender differences and job satisfaction to find out how two interact in the workplace. Investigation of gender differences and job satisfaction present conflicting results given the various areas that needs to be considered during such investigations.

de Galdeano (2002) provides important insights that shows the difference that might exist in the job satisfaction of female and male employees are not related to their differences in observable characteristics nor can it the difference be attributed to a problem of sample selection. This is done by apply the propensity score which has been used by researchers such Tabellini and Trebbi (2001) to further the accuracy of their results. de Galdeano (2002) examines sample selectivity based on the belief that if female employees were dissatisfied by their working conditions they would find it equally easy to leave their employment just as their male counterparts whereby those who remain will have higher job