Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

This unique study presents the findings of a cross-sectional study carried out between 1981 and 2018 in Israel. The follow-up research regarding “Meaning of Work” studies, examines the importance of work goals (interest, autonomy, good pay, interpersonal relations, job security, etc.) according to gender. The participants are a representative sample of the Israeli labor force in 1981 (n=973), 1993 (n=942), 2006 (n=909) and 2018 (939). The results indicate that over the last four decades there have been substantial changes in work goals preferences in which women’s and men’s values have become more and more similar. No traditional gender differences were found in 2018 regarding the importance of convenient working hours, mainly because men now show a higher need for convenient hours compared to the past. Since 1981, both men and women have shown a significant continuous increase in the importance they attach to job security which now has similar importance among them. Still, women regard interpersonal relations as more important than men while men regard autonomy and good pay as more important than women. There is higher gender similarity regarding work goals preferences among the young generation (Generation Y and Z) compared to previous generations, so the differences seem to be diminishing over time. The causes of the trends in work goals are explained by social, economic, and political factors and their implications for social policymakers and organizations are discussed.