Determinants of Job Satisfaction Among U.S. Federal Employees: An Investigation of Racial and Gender Differences
| DOI | 10.1177/0091026019869371 |
| Date | 01 September 2020 |
| Published date | 01 September 2020 |
| Author | Peter J. Robertson,Kitai Kim,Hyung-Woo Lee |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2019
Article
Public Personnel Management
2020, Vol. 49(3) 336 –366
Determinants of Job
© The Author(s) 2019
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Satisfaction Among U.S.
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Federal Employees: An
Investigation of Racial and
Gender Differences
Hyung-Woo Lee1 , Peter J. Robertson2,
and Kitai Kim1
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine whether the determinants of job satisfaction
vary between male and female and between White and minority employees of
the U.S. federal government. The study investigates nine potential determinants
associated with existence, relatedness, growth needs, and organizational equity,
based on data from the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. The study uses
multiple regression analysis to assess and compare the strength of the relationships
between these determinants and work satisfaction among each of four demographic
subgroups (White males, White females, minority males, and minority females).
Results indicate that there are no dramatic differences among these groups in terms
of which factors have the strongest impact on satisfaction. However, a few subtle
distinctions are apparent. In particular, employee development is a higher priority
for men than for women, and recognition for good work is not as important to
minorities as it is to Whites. There is also some evidence of intersectionality, in
that pay satisfaction and diversity management are most important to minority
women and least important to White men, and workplace participation is most
important to White men and least important to minority women. The study
provides potential explanations of these findings, and briefly addresses implications
for research and practice.
1Hannam University, Daejeon, South Korea
2University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
Corresponding Author:
Kitai Kim, Professor, The Linton School of Global Business, Hannam University, 70 Hannamro, Daedeok-
gu, Daejeon 34430, South Korea.
Email: kitaikim@hnu.kr
Lee et al.
337
Keywords
gender, minority, job satisfaction, workplace diversity, federal employee
Workforce participation by women and people of color has increased dramatically in
the United States over the past few decades, affected by civil rights legislation and
affirmative action programs (Choi, 2008). An estimate provided by the U.S. Bureau of
Labor shows that changes in the demographic composition of the workforce have been
especially significant since the early 1980s (Pitts, 2009). This demographic shift has
resulted in much more diversity in organizations, with an even greater impact in public
organizations compared with those in the private sector (Bond, Galinsky, & Swanberg,
1998; Pitts, 2005). The diversification of the public sector workforce helps to establish
a representative bureaucracy (Kingsley, 2015; Selden, 2015) with its promise that gov-
ernments can better realize democratic ideals when the public agency workforce is
more representative of the demographic composition of the people it serves.
Greater workforce diversity poses both opportunities for and threats to public orga-
nizations. Employee heterogeneity has the potential to improve organizational deci-
sion-making because people from diverse backgrounds can apply divergent
perspectives to help solve the problems at hand. This informational diversity increases
creativity and leads to better performance (Jehn, Northcraft, & Neale, 1999). For
example, McLeod, Lobel, and Cox (1996) found that groups composed of only Anglo-
Americans produced fewer innovative ideas in brainstorming sessions than did groups
with more diverse composition. However, heterogeneity in organizations can also lead
to lower performance due to higher levels of emotional conflict among members
(Pelled, Eisenhardt, & Xin, 1999). This can undermine workgroup cohesiveness by
decreasing job satisfaction (Choi, 2008) and psychological attachment among mem-
bers (Tsui, Egan, & O’Reilly, 1992). Demographic heterogeneity can also result in
higher levels of employee turnover by lowering levels of social integration (O’Reilly,
Caldwell, & Barnett, 1989).
The impact of workforce diversification thus hinges on how effectively organiza-
tional leaders prevent and/or address the potential problems that may arise in coopera-
tive work processes among employees from different backgrounds. Some scholars
have pointed to the need for “diversity leadership” (Chen & Van Velsor, 1996;
Dreachslin, 1996), which requires leaders in heterogeneous organizations to under-
stand the differences in minority cultures and ways of thinking. This employee-cen-
tered approach is distinguished from the typical emphasis on impartiality which
assumes that fairness in an organization can be achieved only through impersonal
execution of rules and regulations. This impersonal impartiality has been criticized as
reflecting managerial ignorance (Ely & Thomas, 2001) or as simply an exercise of
dominant culture values (Acker, 1989; Konrad & Linnehan, 1995).
An employee-centered approach to managing organizational diversity takes into
account the fact that employees have different needs, interests, and values that influ-
ence their attitudes and behavior at work. While individual-level differences are
important in this regard, successful diversity management also takes into account the
338
Public Personnel Management 49(3)
cultural differences among demographic subsets of the organization’s workforce. In
particular, it is based on recognition that traditional organizations are designed and
operated based on dominant White male values and beliefs (Acker, 1989; Konrad &
Linnehan, 1995), and that women and people of color often hold alternative perspec-
tives that are distinct from, if not incompatible with, the dominant worldview driving
organizational activity. Incongruence between organizational and individual prefer-
ences and priorities can undermine employee work motivation and job satisfaction
(Judge, 1994), negatively affecting their behavior, performance, and organizational
commitment. In contrast, successful management of cultural differences and diverse
orientations can have positive effects for individuals, groups, and organizations (Ang
et al., 2007; Sizoo, Plank, Iskat, & Serrie, 2005).
As understanding demographic differences is imperative for utilizing an employee-
centered approach to managing diversity, the purpose of this study is to explore differ-
ences between demographic subsets of the federal employee workforce in terms of the
factors that influence their overall satisfaction with work. The specific research ques-
tion this study addresses is the following: Are there differences between men and
women and between Whites and non-Whites in terms of the determinants of their job
satisfaction? This study contributes to the literature on this topic in three ways. First,
despite considerable interest in how individual characteristics and organizational con-
ditions shape employee job satisfaction, there has been little effort to identify ethnic or
gender differences regarding the relative importance of relevant factors. A few studies
addressing issues of work/life balance (e.g., Saltzstein, Ting, & Saltzstein, 2001) and
diversity management (e.g., Choi & Rainey, 2014; Pitts, 2009) have explored the role
of demographic differences, but empirical evidence regarding how gender and ethnic-
ity influence the determinants of job satisfaction is quite limited.
Second, this study improves upon previous research by simultaneously examining
the effects of a wide variety of potential determinants. It is useful to include a number
of viable factors in a single model because, as the literature suggests, the relative
importance of any given factor may depend on the impact of others. For instance, the
motivational “crowding out” hypothesis (Frey & Jegen, 2001) implies that the relative
importance of intrinsic factors decreases as people place greater importance on extrin-
sic factors. Also, need hierarchy theory (Maslow, 1943) and frustration-regression
theory (Alderfer, 1969) suggest that the salience of particular needs is dependent upon
the deficiency or fulfillment of other needs. Thus, inclusion of multiple antecedents in
the analysis allows this study to assess the relative strength of their impact on satisfac-
tion while also providing more precise information regarding how much difference
exists between various demographic subgroups of employees. Previous research has
typically used moderation analysis to examine whether statistically significant differ-
ences exist between racial or ethnic and gender groups, but such analyses do not pro-
vide much insight as to whether such differences are large enough to warrant, for
example, differential treatment of employees based on their race/ethnicity and/or gen-
der. In other words, this question cannot be answered simply by testing for a signifi-
cant moderating effect, but only by comparing the relative strengths of a comprehensive
set of determinants for the various demographic subgroups.
Lee et al.
339
Third, there has been little research on the effect of the intersectionality of ethnicity
and gender on employee outcomes. Most studies in public administration and organi-
zational behavior addressing minority issues have relied...
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