Estimation of pharmacy students' expected job satisfaction functions: Inter-gender differences

This paper seeks to formulate and estimate, using ordinary least squares, e xpected job satisfaction functions for male and female pharmacy students im mediately prior to entering rotations or internship. Two issues are address ed: Whether or not expected job satisfaction functions can be estimated emp irically and, if so, the extent to which inter-gender differences exist in the coefficients of the explanatory variables, The data consist of 60 men a nd 93 women enrolled at Nova Southeastern University. Expected level of job satisfaction from first job as pharmacist is measured along a one-to-ten s cale, higher numbers indicating greater anticipated satisfaction. It is pos tulated to be a linear function of expected starting salary, grade average, age, preferred work setting, and ethnicity. For these variables least-squa res estimates and their standard errors, levels of significance, and elasti cities are developed separately for men and women, with statistically signi ficant F ratios and relatively high R-2 values. The empirical evidence show s that expected job satisfaction functions and corresponding elasticities c an be estimated successfully for male and female pharmacy students. The evi dence also suggests that the rapidly changing gender composition in the pha rmacy profession may have eliminated or altered inter-gender differences in outlooks and expectations prevalent until recently. While grades are a str onger determinant of job satisfaction for men than for women, age is a sign ificant predictor for women but not for men. Surprisingly, women derive mor e expected satisfaction out of expected initial salary and out of potential retail-work setting than do men, which contradicts the traditional argumen t of greater male than female concern for income and business aspects of ph armacy.