While a gender wage gap persists across industries and skill levels, part of what causes men to consistently outearn women is their selection of different types of jobs.
In a new study from Columbia Business School, researchers examine one factor employees consider when choosing work — meaning — and its relative importance to men and women.
“Both depressing and worth studying.” That’s how Columbia Business School’s Professor Stephan Meier describes the persistent gender wage gap, whereby women in the United States make around 82 cents on the dollar compared to men, a number that has barely changed in more than 20 years.
Prior research has shown that the wage gap exists in part because employers pay men more than women for the same roles. But it exists also because men and women sort themselves into different types of jobs, with women more likely to prioritize attributes like flexibility and job stability, while men tend to select higher paying roles. Meier and his co-authors built on this body of research, examining the importance of meaning as one factor employees might consider when choosing a role and comparing its importance for men versus women.
A Meaningful Divide
The research described two different types of meaning at work. Meaning derived from social impact refers to the positive impact a job has on society. Employees might find this type of meaning working for organizations with strong corporate social responsibility or by helping others more directly in public service or nonprofit sectors. Meaning derived from nonsocial impact, meanwhile, refers to the sense of accomplishment someone might feel from their achievements at work, like taking pride in completing a project, contributing to the company’s success, or feeling competent in a role.
To carry out the research, the authors conducted two studies. First, they analyzed existing survey data from 47 different countries, where about 110,000 participants ranked the importance of monetary and non-monetary attributes of work. That included things like income and opportunities for advancement on the one hand and having an interesting job, a flexible schedule, and the opportunity to help people on the other hand.
For the second part, the researchers used a conjoint analysis (a marketing tool) to ask a class of MBA students to choose among hypothetical job offers that differed in attributes like salary, social responsibility, and flexibility. By assessing participants’ answers based on those shifting variables, researchers were able to home in on their preferences.
The two studies found some similarities in men’s and women’s job preferences. Both valued income, and both wanted an interesting job, for example. Women preferred more flexibility than men did, but where they differed most was in their desire for a job that would be meaningful because of its social impact. “Whether the job helps others and whether it's useful for society — that’s the biggest difference between males and females,” Meier says. “Females find those attributes much more important.”
Although men were less interested in social impact, they did show a slight preference for nonsocial meaning, or fulfillment derived from personal achievements at work.
The survey showed that the difference in preferences for meaningful work was consistent across countries, with the disparity more pronounced in wealthier and more educated populations. Among the MBA cohort, women were less likely than men to choose internships in finance, known to be a less socially conscious field, and more likely to choose internships at nonprofits. And the women MBA students were also more likely than their male counterparts to participate in socially oriented clubs and courses. “Even those super-ambitious, highly educated, and career-driven females find social impact more important than men do,” Meier says.
Those preferences persisted into the workforce. Once they graduated, only 31 percent of women MBAs actually entered the finance field, compared to 46 percent of men. The researchers say their work points to why: “If you care about the social aspect, you're less likely to go into finance,” Meier says. This is relevant to the gender wage gap, according to the study, because finance is the highest paid industry.
Understanding the importance of social impact to women could have real implications for closing the gender wage gap. By prioritizing social responsibility, a company may have more success in attracting female workers. “If you're a manager of a bank, and you're really serious about diversity, you need to think about the actual social impact of the business you are in,” Meier says. “And you actually need to feel it. People will figure out whether you really care about the greater impact of what you are doing.”
Of course, that isn’t the only solution needed, Meier adds, noting, “You also have to fix discrimination and the other issues making it really difficult for women to work there.”
Adapted from “Gender Differences in Preferences for Meaning at Work” by Vanessa Burbano, Columbia Business School; Nicolas Padilla, London Business School; and Stephan Meier, Columbia Business School.
