The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

456 Chapter 12

Characteristics of Paid Work

Do men and women value the same charac-

teristics of work? A meta-analytic review of

studies that included all age groups, ranging

from children to adults, revealed that males

value a high income, autonomy, challenge,

recognition, and power more than females

(see Figure 12.7; Konrad et al., 2000; Lips &

Lawson, 2009). By contrast, females value an

easy commute, the physical environment,

■ Employment benefits women’s health even in the pres-

ence of children, but the presence of children adds to

the complexity of understanding the conditions under

which paid work is beneficial to women.

■ To understand the interactive effects among roles, we

need to consider what roles mean to women and men

and what the demands are in each of the roles.

Quality of Paid Worker Role

One reason it is difficult to evaluate the effects

of paid work on men’s and women’s health is

that the nature of the paid worker role differs

for men and women. For example, women

and men are not employed in the same kinds

of jobs. Table 12.1 shows the percentage of

women employed in a variety of jobs in 1983

and 25 years later in 2008 (U.S. Department

of Labor, 2009b). Although women today are

more likely to be found in professions such as

accountant, architect, dentist, financial man-

ager, lawyer, and physician, some professions

remain sex segregated; for example, auto

mechanic, carpenter, dental assistant, and

elementary school teacher.

Women also are more likely than men

to be employed in part-time positions. In

2007, 72% of employed women held full-time

jobs compared to 87% of men (U.S. Depart-

ment of Labor, 2009c). However, this figure

really represents a comparison of White and

Hispanic women to White and Hispanic men,

as Black women are almost equally likely to be

employed full time as Black men. Women and

men also report different job conditions. Thus

to compare employed women and men, we

need to know more about the characteristics

of their jobs to see if the two groups are really

comparable. In the following section, I exam-

ine the characteristics of paid work that men

and women value as well as face.

TABLE 12.1 PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN WORKERS IN

SELECTED OCCUPATIONS IN 1983 AND

2008

Occupation 1983 2008

Accountants/Auditors 38.7 61.1

Airplane pilots and flight

engineers

2.1 2.6

Architects 12.7 24.8

Auto service technicians and

mechanics

0.5 1.6

Carpenters 1.4 1.5

Clergies 5.6 14.8

Computer programmers 32.5 22.4

Dental assistants 98.1 96.3

Dentists 6.7 27.2

Financial managers 38.6 54.8

Firefighters 1.0 4.8

Lawyers 15.3 34.4

Mail carriers 17.1 33

Photographers 20.7 44.1

Physicians and surgeons 15.8 30.5

Psychologists 57.1 66.9

Registered nurses 95.8 91.7

Social workers 64.3 79.4

Teachers—college and

university

36.3 46.1

Teachers—elementary and

middle school

83.3 81.2

Word processors and typists 95.6 92.9

Source: Adapted from U.S. Department of Labor

(2009b).

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