Gender Differences in Domains of Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Doctoral Graduates from Australian Universities

Abstract

Based on data from a study of graduates from PhD programs at Australia’s Group of Eight (Go8) universities, a gender gap in job satisfaction domains is estimated using a Mann-Whitney U test. Findings from the aggregate model show significant gender differences in only 5 out of 17 domains of job satisfaction. Further, separate analyses by age, employment status and family type/living arrangement broadly support the absence of gender differences in domains of job satisfaction. For aspects of job satisfaction that show significant gender differential it is found that males are more satisfied than females with their hours worked, opportunity for career advancement and workload, whereas females are more satisfied than males with their relationship with co-workers and contribution to society. This implies that males are more satisfied with intrinsic dimensions of job satisfaction while females are more satisfied with extrinsic aspects of job satisfaction.