A longstanding assumption suggests women place less value on their careers than men. A rigorous new study challenges this by examining how central careers are to personal identity among employees across 11 countries. The findings uncover striking similarities between women and men in career centrality, far outweighing any differences.
Key takeaways include:
• Family or caregiving roles do not diminish investment in work identity for either gender.
• Women, more likely to hold lower-quality jobs, tend to report lower career centrality.
• Traditional gender beliefs reduce career orientation for both sexes, with a stronger impact on women.
These results point to structural and cultural factors driving gender differences in career values. Equal access to high-quality jobs would likely lead women to invest in their careers much like men.
