The meaning of work dimensions according to organizational status: does gender matter?

Published date07 August 2017
Date07 August 2017
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/ER-04-2016-0087
Pages643-659
AuthorMoshe Sharabi
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law
The meaning of work dimensions
according to organizational
status: does gender matter?
Moshe Sharabi
Yezreel Valley Academic College, Emek Yezreel, Israel and
The Center for the Study of Organizations and Human Resources Department,
University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
Abstract
Purpose Over the course of time, more and more women have been joining the labor force, achieving
meaningful roles and managerial positions. The purpose of this paper is to examine contemporary meaning of
work (MOW) among men and women in different organizational statuses and the impact of other
demographic factors on the MOW dimensions.
Design/methodology/approach Out of 1,201 participants that filled out the MOW questioner, 908 were
employed in organizations as middle managers (118 men and 67 women) or junior managers (120 men and 97
women) and workers (208 men and 298 women).
Findings No differences werefound between men andwomen middle managersregarding MOWdimensions.
It wasfound that the higherthe organizationalstatus, the higherthe work centralityand intrinsicorientation and
the lower the economic orientation, among both men and women. Regression analysis reveals that demographic
variableshave a low impacton the MOW dimensionsand hardly explainthe differencesamong men andwomen.
Practical implications The understanding of contemporary MOW similarities and differences among
men and women according to organizational status and the impact of varied demographic variables on those
differences can influence the way organizations consider mens and womens (both managers and workers)
needs in their working life, with implications for their satisfaction and productivity.
Originality/value While there are various studies about gender differences regarding work values and the
MOW, not a single study focusing on the differences in the MOW between managers and workers according
to gender was found.
Keywords Israel, Gender differences, Meaning of work, Organizational status, Work centrality
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
One of the meaningful global economic and social changes is the increase in womens
participation in the workforce. The historical gender division, wherebymen were breadwinners
who worked for pay and women were homemakers who worked at home, has changed
dramatically over the course of time (Lips and Lawson, 2009). In recent decades, women have
been entering the global workforce at a rapid rate (Carli, 2010; Lips and Lawson, 2009).
Womens participation in the US workforce rose over the years to about 59 percent in 2010
(US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). Similarly, in China and Hong Kong, 46 percent of the
workforces are women (Carli, 2010). Recent data from the United Nations Statistics indicate
that in more than 60 percent of the countries polled by the United Nations the majority of
women are economically active (Lips and Lawson, 2009). This trend has been accompanied by
an increase in womens education, occupational status and income (Carli, 2010; Lips and
Lawson, 2009). Moreover, it is maintained that these facts escalate the potential for work-family
conflict for women and men alike (Cousins and Tang, 2004; Hoobler et al., 2009; Sharabi and
Harpaz, 2011b; Westman and Etzion, 2005). These changes seem to have a potential to affect
womens workvalues and expectationsregardingthe goals they aspireto obtain through work.
Ben David (2003) notes that in Israel, during the last four decades, there has been a
decrease in mens proportion in the labor market, while that of women in it is rising steadily.
While in Israel in the 1960s, the accepted norm was that a womans role was to be a
Employee Relations
Vol. 39 No. 5, 2017
pp. 643-659
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-04-2016-0087
Received 29 April 2016
Revised 20 February 2017
Accepted 3 April 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
643
Meaning
of work
dimensions
housewife, while the husbands role was to work and provide income and economic benefits
to the family, there was an increasing awareness toward employment among women in the
1970s. At first their integration in the labor market was slow, but in the 1980s this
phenomenon increased significantly. The womens percentage in the labor market climbed
from 26 percent in the early 1960s to 36 percent in the early 1980s (Ben David, 2003). In the
early 1990s, the womens proportion in the labor market was about 40 percent and in 2011 it
reached 53 percent (Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, 2013).
When examining occupation by gender in Israel, it is evident that although women were
47 percent of the workforce in 2011, most of them were employed in traditional female
occupations characterized by low wages, such as teaching, secretarial work, sales, etc. Of the
managers, 34 percent were women and 66 percent were men (Israel Central Bureau of
Statistics, 2013). Sharabi (2008) indicates that although the percentage of women managers
doubled from the beginning of the 1980s to the beginning of the new millennium, the
percentage of male CEOs is almost four times higher than female CEOs. Yet, over the course
of time womens roles have become more and more meaningful and their percentage in
management positions has increased significantly (Ben David, 2003).
These social changes have taken place due to several reasons. The first reason is the
steady increase in the standard of living and consumption. This requires reliance on two
incomes in the family in order to maintain the normative standard of living. The second
reason is the increased expectations of women for self-actualization beyond the family,
mainly due to the rise in their educational level. The third reason is the development of
support systems that allow a woman to work full time (kindergarten until the evening and
throughout the year, after-school activities, assisting spouses, etc.). The fourth reason is the
increasing rate of divorce and single-parent families. This phenomenon creates an economic
pressure and causes the single parents to spend more hours at work in order to pay the
economic costs. Finally, the recognition of women as an important human resource that
have an influence on organizational success and the recognition that every society aims
toward economic achievement has led to integration of women at all levels of the labor
market, including the army (Sharabi and Harpaz, 2013).
While there are various studies about gender differences regarding work values and the
meaning of work (MOW), not a single study focusing on the differences in the MOW
between managers and workers according to gender was found. It seems that the lack of
such studies stems from the fact that until lately there were few women in middle and top
managerial positions, so it was hard to compare men and women managers or women in
different organizational statuses. Changes in gender socialization and expectations among
men and women regarding work life can be related to social, economic and political factors.
These factors can explain the causes of work values changes among sub-groups and
societies (Hesse-Biber and Carter, 2004; Inglehart, 1990; Sharabi and Harpaz, 2013). In the
last few decades, Israeli society has undergone significant economic, political and social
changes. This study examines contemporary MOW similarities and differences among men
and women according to organizational status and the impact of varied demographic
variables on those differences. This understanding can influence the way organizations
consider mens and womens (both managers and workers) needs in their working life, with
implications for their satisfaction and productivity.
Work and its meaning
Work and its related outcomes play a central role in individualslives and in societies, in
general. Most people consider working and its outcomesas a central component of their lives
for severalreasons. First, it has an economic/instrumentalaspect work provides income that
ensures oneslivelihood and supplies ones materialneeds. Second, the commitmentto work is
perceivedas part of human nature and needswork provides the will to strive, learn, develop,
644
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39,5

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