Relationship between gender and work related attitudes: a study of temporary agency employees

Abstract

The objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between gender and employee attitudes among temporary employees. Drawing on gender role theory, we hypothesized that female temporary employees, compared to male counterparts, will have more positive attitudes toward their organizations. We studied the above relationship in relation to both client organization and temporary agency as temporary employees associate themselves with these two types of organization. We also tested the moderating influence of age and education on the relationship between gender and work-related attitudes. The results based on a survey of temporary employees (N=1261), indicate that female temporary employees have more positive work related attitudes toward the client organization. The results also indicated that education and, to a limited extent, age, acted as a moderator for the relationship between gender and employee attitudes. We discuss implications of these findings for the research and practice of managing temporary employees in organizations.