Men and women's job histories and job changes: The case of Israel's medical-sector employees

The use of internal (intra-organizational) or external (inter-organizational) labor markets in men and women's past employment is examined here as an explanation for differences in turnover behavior. A sample of 700 employees from eight medical organizations in seven labor markets was used to assess the importance of previous internal and external shifts and organizational level opportunities on men's and women's present job change choices. Women's job changes were more affected by previous intra-organizational moves, whereas men's job changes were increased by previous inter-organizational moves. These results suggest that gender differences in job shifts are due to women's greater reliance on internal labor markets.