Job satisfaction in higher education: Examining gender in professional work settings

The concept of job satisfaction has been central to the study of occupation s. However, the impact of gender on job satisfaction in professional settin gs is still underrepresented as an area of inquiry. We use the notion of jo b satisfaction to introduce our organizational heterogenesis approach to un derstanding workplace satisfaction. Central to this approach is a concern w ith constructs of organizational interaction which combine the individualis tic and structuralist approaches to understanding organizational life. Our analysis of 180 faculty at a large, urban university shows that gender affe cts the features of the workplace that affect job satisfaction. Our organiz ational heterogenesis approach frames these findings as an example of how d ispositions are "made" important in the organization rather than locating d ispositions as individual characteristics alone. We conclude by discussing the organizational heterogenesis approach as a viable theory that combines individualistic and structuralist approaches to organizational life.