Social expectations, gender and job satisfaction: Front-line employees in China's retail sector

• Published in: Human resource management journal Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 331 - 347
• Main Authors: Huang, Qihai, Gamble, Jos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2015
• Subjects: China; Employees; Gender; Gender differences; gender role theory; HRM; Job satisfaction; multinationals; retail employment; Retail stores; Sex roles; Studies; China
• ISSN: 0954-5395; 1748-8583
• DOI: 10.1111/1748-8583.12066

This study aims to enhance our understanding of gender and employment in China. Analysing data collected from over 1,800 employees at 22 foreign‐invested and locally owned retail stores in eight Chinese cities, it firstly explores whether, like their counterparts in Western countries, female employees have higher levels of job satisfaction than their male colleagues. Secondly, it distinguishes the key differential predictors of female and male employees' job satisfaction levels. This article extends gender role theory on job satisfaction by showing how traditional values, the structure of work and a nation's dominant gender ideology combine to shape women and men's job satisfaction and work experiences in a transitional context.