Gender and Job Satisfaction in Urban China The Role

  • 格式:pdf
  • 大小:439.71 KB
  • 文档页数:21

GenderandJobSatisfactioninUrbanChina:TheRoleofIndividual,Family,andJobCharacteristics

YeLuo

Accepted:29November2014/Publishedonline:5December2014ÓSpringerScience+BusinessMediaDordrecht2014

AbstractThisstudyexaminesgenderdifferencesinjobsatisfactioninurbanChinese,whetherindividualachievedstatus,familyandhouseholdcharacteristics,andjobchar-acteristicsexplainthesedifferences,andwhetherthesefactorsareassociatedwithmen’sandwomen’sjobsatisfactiondifferentlyusinganationalrepresentativesampleof1,641menand1,375womenfromthe2006ChineseGeneralSocialSurvey.UrbanChinesewomenarelesssatisfiedwiththeirjobsthanurbanChinesemen.Thisgenderdifferenceislargelyexplainedbywomen’sunderrepresentationintheChineseCommunistPartyandtheirinferiorjobs.Familyandhouseholdcharacteristicshavestrongerimpactonwomen’sjobsatisfactionthanonmen’s,butachievedstatusandjobcharacteristicshavesimilarassociationswithjobsatisfactionformenandwomen.Thesefindingssuggestthatper-sistentgenderinequalityisdetrimentaltowomen’swell-beingattheworkplace.

KeywordsGenderÁJobsatisfactionÁGenderinequalityÁUrbanChina

1IntroductionJobsatisfactionisapleasurableorpositiveemotionalstateresultingfromtheappraisalofone’sjoborjobexperiences(Locke1976).Asakeyindicatorofthequalityofworklife,jobsatisfactionhasbeenlinkedtovariousoutcomes,includinglaborturnoverandabsenteeism(Clarketal.1998),employees’mentalandphysicalhealth(Faragheretal.2005;FischerandSousa-Poza2009),theirfamilyinteractionsandoveralllifesatisfaction(Iliesetal.2009;RogersandMay2003).Therehavebeennumerousstudiesonthedeterminantsofjobsatisfactionsincethe1970s,andgenderdifferencesinjobsatisfactionareoneofthemoststudiedtopics(e.g.,Benderetal.2005;DonohueandHeywood2004;

Y.Luo(&)DepartmentofSociologyandAnthropology,ClemsonUniversity,132BrackettHall,Clemson,SC29634,USAe-mail:yel@clemson.edu

123

SocIndicRes(2016)125:289–309DOI10.1007/s11205-014-0837-xHodson1989;Magee2013;SloaneandWilliams2000).AlthoughmoststudiesfocusedonWesterncountries,especiallytheUnitedStatesandUnitedKingdom,therecognitionthatthedeterminantsofjobsatisfactionmayvarybyculturesandcountrieshasledtoagrowingliteratureonjobsatisfactioninothersocieties(e.g.,Kaiser2007;MuellerandKim2008).TheextantjobattitudesinChinaareinfluencedbythecountry’suniqueculturaltra-dition,itsformerlystrictsocialistsystem,anditscurrentrapideconomicdevelopment(GaoandSmyth2010;LoscoccoandBose1998;Ngoetal.2014).Chinahasadeep-rootedpatriarchaltraditioninwhichawomanwastobesubordinatetoherfatherinyouth,herhusbandinmaturity,andhersoninoldage(JiangandYang2011).ThistraditionhasbeenchallengedaftertheMayFourthMovementin1919,especiallysincethefoundingofthePeople’sRepublicofChina.‘‘Womencanholdhalfofthesky’’wastheofficialsloganinthenewChinaintendedtopromotewomen’ssocial,economic,andpoliticalparticipation.Thesocialistsystemliberalizedwomenasworkersinthemarketplace,encouragedthemtotakeinitiatives,andprovidedstate-rundaycarefacilitiesandfoodservices(Granrose2007;Zhangetal.2008).Bytheendof2010,71%ofChinesewomenaged18–64areinthelaborforce(All-ChinaWomen’sFederation2011).Eventhoughwomenareencouragedtotakeinitiativestofindtheirownpositionsinthesociety,genderdisparitiesremainintheworkplace(Attane2012;Granrose2007).Sincetheeconomicrestructuringand‘‘opening’’beganin1978,Chineseeconomyhasundergonedeep-seatedchangefromasocialistcommandeconomytoamixedeconomythatincludesprivateownershipofcapitals.Privatizationhasmixedeffectsforwomen.Itincreasestherangeofjobchoicesandopportunities.However,supportdeclinesforwomen-as-mothersasfeaturessuchasfreedaycaredisappearunderthecapitalisticpressureforlargerprofitmargins(Zhangetal.2008).Employmentrateforurbanwomenhasfallensubstantiallyfrom76%in1990to61%in2010(Attane2012).ThegenderwagegapinurbanChinahasbeenwideninginthelastthreedecades,largelyduetoincreaseddiscriminationagainstfemaleworkersintheurbanlabormarket(CohenandWang2009;Ng2007;LiandSong2013;WangandCai2008).Inaddition,thereisanincreaseinbothmenandwomenwhobelieveintraditionalgenderroles(All-ChinaWomen’sFederation2011).Changesinwomen’sstatusbroughtaboutbyeconomicreformsandopeningoflabormarketcallforresearchongender-specificworkattitudesandbehaviors;yetempiricalstudiesongenderdifferencesinjobsatisfactioninChinaarescant.Afewstudiesonthisissue,thoughimportant,reliedonsmallorspecializedsamplesthatarenotrepresentativeoftheadultworkingpopulationinChinaandthesestudiesoftenmissedimportantfamilyorjobvariablestoallowforacomprehensiveassessmentoftherelativeimportanceofdifferentdeterminants(e.g.,LoscoccoandBose1998;Ngoetal.2014;Pengetal.2009).LoscoccoandBose(1998)wasperhapsthemostcomprehensivestudyonthisissue;however,itwasbasedonasurveyconductedin1985inonecity,Tianjin,anditfocusedonstructuraljobcharacteristics,suchasoccupationtypeandworkunit,notondetailedjobcharacteristics.MishraandSmyth(2014)revealedasignificantgenderdifferenceintherelationshipbetweensubjectivewell-beingandwages,butthisstudyfocusedontheroleofsubjectivewell-beinginexplainingthegenderwagegapanditdidnotspecificallylookatjobsatisfaction.Therefore,thereisaneedtoexaminewhethertherelationshipbetweengenderandjobsatisfactionhaschangedsincethemid-1980sandwhetherthefindingscanbegeneralizedtoallurbanworkersinChina.Thisstudyusesanationalrepresentativesampletoaddressthreeresearchquestions:(1)Aretheregenderdifferencesinjobsatis-factioninurbanChina?(2)Cangenderdifferencesinjobsatisfactionbeexplainedbygenderdifferencesinindividualachievedstatus,familyandhouseholdcharacteristics,and