Gender and Job Values.

Research on the gender gap in earnings has been influenced heavily by human capital theory and theories of labor market segmentation. Both theories consider the role of gender differences in values on the "supply side" only with respect to the allocation of time between the labor market and the home and its possible effect on career decision making. Gender differences in values, however, may affect the choice of occupations and jobs, as well as the way in which jobs are performed. This article reports on a study of gender differences in the job values of U.S. high school seniors from 1976 to 1991. Unlike earlier studies of job values, the authors found no gender differences in the importance of extrinsic rewards and influence, but persisting gender differences in the importance of intrinsic, altruistic, and social rewards. Young women attach greater importance to these latter rewards than do young men and less importance to the leisure-related aspects of jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]