TRAINING-RELATED VARIABLES, GENDER AND TRAINING OUTCOMES - A FIELD INVESTIGATION

A two-week training programme was provided to male and female trainees . Data were collected on each of the subject's locus of control and on each subject's perception of the degree to which their work environme nt would be supportive of application of skills acquired in training. The outcome variables measured for the 73 trainees (35 males, 38 femal es) included motivation to transfer, evaluation of the training progra mme, the grade achieved at the conclusion of training, self-report and immediate superior's evaluation of the use of acquired skills. Data w ere also collected on seniority. Hierarchical regression analysis was employed to test the effect of gender, and training-related variables on training outcomes. Controlling for the effect of seniority the data indicated that gender had an impact on motivation to transfer, and ge nder and seniority both had a significant effect on reaction to the co urse. Perceived work environment support and its interaction with seni ority also accounted for a significant portion of explained variance o f motivation to transfer and reactions to the course. Locus of control did not have a significant effect on four of the training outcomes bu t the interaction of locus of control and seniority affected the super ior's evaluation of the use of skills. The results are discussed in te rms of their tactical and strategic implications for the relationship between training-related variables and gender.