Abstract

There is a large cross-disciplinary research literature on gender and work, and it continues to grow. An ongoing point of debate is how are work satisfaction perceptions likely to be “gendered”? What factors seem to lie behind these gendered perceptions? For example, how do gender-specific expectations and stereotypes, gender segregation in work and occupations, the gender wage gap, and, importantly, gender-based inequity in the work of social reproduction bear on gender differences in work satisfaction, according to the literature. This article will address these questions and provide an overview of the historical and future directions of academic inquiry into “gendered” differences in the workplace that drive worker job satisfaction.