Changes in work outcomes preferences among women and men in Israel: The effect of social and economic factors

This chapter examines changes in work outcomes preferences (status and prestige, income, time filling, interpersonal contacts, serving society and intrinsically interesting) among men and women over a 25-year period in which Israeli society has undergone dramatic social and economic changes. Results are reported for cross-sectional studies conducted in 1981 (408 women and 565 men) and 2006 (590 women and 611 men), which were drawn from representative samples of the Israeli workforce. The findings reveal that among both women and men there was a decrease in the importance of the intrinsic outcome of interest and the social outcome of serving society at the expense of the dramatic increase in the importance of the extrinsic outcome of income. Traditional gender differences regarding the high importance of income among men and interpersonal relations among women have vanished. These trends reflect a transformation from a more collectivist and altruistic society to a more individualist and materialistic society and can be explained by generational differences. Overall, demographic factors have a low effect on work outcomes among men and women. The findings are explained by social and economic factors regarding the changes which occurred in Israel over the last decades.