What Makes a “Good Job”? Gender Role Attitudes and Job Preferences in Sweden

Abstract

Previous studies have documented an increasing number of women entering into the paid work force, yet little research has examined the gendered meanings of work for men and women. Using a sample of 1986 Swedes from the 2009 Young Adult Panel Study, this paper investigates the effects of gender role attitudes on job attribute preferences in order to understand what makes a “good job” for Swedish men and women. Results show that men and women with more egalitarian attitudes have different perspectives than their more traditional counterparts. More egalitarian women place greater importance on the possibility of advancement and being proud of their work and less importance on family-friendly work policies. On the other hand, more egalitarian men place greater importance on family-friendly work policies and less importance on having a high salary and workplace security. The implications of these findings are discussed, and we suggest that egalitarian women’s emphasis on advancement and pride at work combined with egalitarian men’s de-emphasis on pay and emphasis on family-friendly job attributes point to potential changes in gender norms and roles.