| Abstract: |
This study used data from the German Socio-economic Panel to examine gender
differences in the extent to which self-reported subjective well-being was
associated with occupying a high-level managerial position in the labour
market, compared with employment in non-leadership, non-high-level managerial
positions, unemployment, and non-labour market participation. Our results
indicated that a clear hierarchy exists for men in term of how status within
the labour market was associated with subjective life satisfaction. Unemployed
men were the least satisfied, followed by men who were not in the labour
market, while men in leadership positions reported the highest level of
subjective life satisfaction. For women, no statistically significant
differences were observed among women in high-level managerial positions,
women who worked in non-high-level positions, and women who specialized in
household production, with no market work. Only women who were unemployed
reported lower levels of life satisfaction, compared with women in other
labour-market statuses. Our results lend evidence to the contention that men
can "have it all", but women must still choose between career and family in
Germany. We argue that interventions need to address how the non-pecuniary
rewards associated with high-level managerial and leadership positions can be
increased for women. Such policies would also likely serve to mitigate the
"pipeline" problem concerning the number of women who are available to move
into high positions in the private sector. |