The Impact of Diversity Climate for Women on Female Employees’ Intentions to Stay: A Cross-Cultural Study on South Korea and Norway

Hyo-Sook Kim

doi:10.4236/ajibm.2017.71001

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine what factors influence female workers’ intentions to stay with their employer. The effect of diversity climate for women on female employees’ intentions to stay was investigated. Also, based on compensation theory, this study hypothesized the moderation effect of a societal culture, especially Hofstede’s masculinity-femininity dimension, on the association between diversity climate for women and female employees’ intentions to stay. An experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses of this research using South Korea and Norway as study venues. The results revealed that there was a positive association between diversity climate for women and female employees’ intentions to stay. Moreover, in the investigation of societal masculinity’s moderating role, it was shown that diversity climate for women was highly influential in strengthening the intent to stay for female employees from a masculine society. On the other hand, for those from a feminine society, the impact of diversity climate for women was not as strong as for those from a masculine society. By clarifying the role that a societal culture played in female workers’ intentions to stay with their employing organization, the results of this study emphasized the importance of supportive contexts not only at work, but also within a society.

Highlights

Positive perceptions of diversity climate for women are generally expected to lead to greater probabilities of female workers’ intentions to stay with their employer, this study propose that this expectation can differ for masculine versus feminine cultures
To check the appropriateness of the diversity climate variable manipulation, based on Rabl and Triana’s [20] study, the following question was asked on a 7-point Likerttype scale ranging from 1 to 7: “In your opinion, which attitude does this company have toward gender diversity?” A t-test revealed that there was a significant difference between the supportive diversity climate for women and the unsupportive diversity climate for women (M = 5.87, M = 2.37 respectively, p < 0.01)
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between diversity climate for women and female workers’ intentions to stay with their employer

Summary

Introduction

Substantial research has shown the importance of attracting and retaining women in the workplace in delivering strong performance at the organizational level, building a strong economy at the national level, and remaining competitive internationally [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]. Even though the number of women in the workforce has been rapidly increasing, many of them opt to quit their jobs, or are forced to, in the middle of their careers [1]. This can lead to the loss of valuable assets for both organizations and female employees

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