Sex and Centralization in a Semiprofession

Abstract

Because direct empirical comparisons of the organizational participation of women and men have been lacking, attempts to incorporate gender as an explanatory variable in theories of organizational authority have had to rely on unverified sex stereotypes. This research examines contentions which have appeared repeatedly in such attempts, namely (a) that there are differences between men and women in four types of work orientation, and (b) that these differences are reflected in greater centralization of authority in predominantly female organizations. To isolate the effects of gender, semiprofessionals in ten very similar organizations were surveyed (Catholic secondary schools). Results show little difference in career commitment, and no support for stereotypes of women as less concerned with intrinsic characteristics of work and more submissive to authority than men. With or without multivariate controls, women do appear to value interpersonal relationships on the job somewhat more highly. However, faculty sex composition is not associated with degree of centralization, disconfirming the major prediction of those theoretical discussions which have suggested that gender is a partial determinant of the authority structure in complex organizations.