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Gender Differences in Job Challenge: A Matter of Task Allocation
Author(s) -
De Pater Irene E.,
Van Vianen Annelies E. M.,
Bechtoldt Myriam N.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
gender, work and organization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.159
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1468-0432
pISSN - 0968-6673
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2009.00477.x
Subject(s) - task (project management) , psychology , job performance , job attitude , test (biology) , job analysis , proposition , differential (mechanical device) , social psychology , applied psychology , job satisfaction , management , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology , economics , engineering , biology , aerospace engineering
Challenging job experiences are considered important prerequisites for management development and career success. Several researchers have suggested that women are given fewer challenging assignments than their male colleagues. To test this idea we performed two studies. The first examined possible gender differences in challenging job experiences at middle job levels. The results indicated that female employees had fewer challenging experiences in their jobs than their male counterparts. The second explored the proposition that differential assignment of challenging tasks to male and female subordinates underlies gender differences in job challenge. The results indeed suggest that supervisors' task allocation decisions are not gender‐blind and may result in women having fewer challenging job experiences than men.