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      Women in non-traditional versus traditional occupations : social comparison, job satisfaction and career success

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      Date
      2001-01-14
      Author
      Woods, Debra Michelle
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
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      Abstract
      This research investigated the relationships between reference group choice and job satisfaction, and explored women’s definitions of career success. Women working in traditional and non-traditional occupations (N = 52) in a mid-sized university in Western Canada participated in personal interviews. The results revealed that significantly more women compared themselves to others when assessing their job satisfaction than those who did not. No significant differences emerged when comparing levels of satisfaction of women in non-traditional occupations with male reference groups and women in traditional occupations with female reference groups. Similarly, no significant differences in levels of satisfaction emerged between women in non-traditional occupations with female reference groups and women in traditional occupations with female reference groups. However, low power may have accounted for the non-significant findings. Other factors, such as job characteristics, that may be influencing levels of job satisfaction are discussed. Content analysis of women’s definitions of career success suggested that women in each type of occupations used similar subjective criteria when defining career success, with the two most frequent coded criteria being “happy with work” and “achieving their goals”. Organizational implications of the findings are discussed, including possible factors influencing women’s levels of satisfaction, and the development of reward systems reflective of the interests of all employees. Future directions for research are proposed, such as continued investigation of the concept of “similar” comparison others for women, and women’s perceptions of the importance of social comparisons in assessing levels of job satisfaction.
      Degree
      Master of Arts (M.A.)
      Department
      Psychology
      Program
      Psychology
      Supervisor
      Fisher, Ronald
      Committee
      Alexitch, Louise R.; Scissons, Ed
      Copyright Date
      January 2001
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-06282006-112725
      Subject
      Minnesota Satisfaction Questionniare
      social comparison theory
      mixed design
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