Gender Differences in Work Values in China

Based on a nationally representative sample of 10,332 adults from the China General Social Survey 2005 (CGSS2005), this study examines gender differences in work values in China, the mediating effects of marriage and family status, the mediating effects of SES and occupational characteristics and the interaction between gender and family status. Results from ordinal logistic regressions show that women are more likely to rank high earnings, job security, short work time and job autonomy higher, while men are more likely to rank job prestige, job authority, job interest, job promotion, serving others and sense of achievement higher. Marriage and family status only help explain gender differences in ranking job interest. However, the data provides support for the hypothesis that SES and occupational characteristics can in part explain gender differences in work values. SES and occupational characteristics have fully mediating effects on gender differences in ranking high earnings and job security, and also help explain gender differences in other work values. Interaction effects of gender and family status show that the effects of marital status differ for men and women in ranking high earnings, job authority, job interest, short work time and sense of achievement, but the marital status effects do not differ on other work values for men and women