Comparing job expectations of Chinese male and female college students

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine gender differences in job expectations among Chinese university students and how they may affect the activities of organizations in attracting and retaining talent. Design/methodology/approach - Since 1972, a number of studies have utilized a job-orientation survey instrument developed by Manhardt. This study asked Chinese university students to rate 25 job characteristics according to their importance to the rater on a five-point scale (5 very important, 1 not important) in the same manner as had previously been done by Manhardt and others, subsequently. There were 101 Chinese university business students surveyed. Findings - Results showed that the rank order of importance which male and female students placed on job characteristics was similar. In addition, there were no significant differences between male and female students on either the intrinsic or extrinsic subset of variables, indicating that both genders could be approached similarly with regard to the basic issues that comprise a human resource portfolio. Originality/value - The consistency of job expectations of males and females could be viewed as a positive characteristic by firms, as it simplifies the human resource portfolio design and thus would be cost effective. Whether such consistency across genders would remain true over time (i.e. as Chinese society and culture evolves) or across all industry segments and geographic regions, or in a variety of economic conditions is an issue for future research exploration and analysis. In regard to certain extrinsic items, females seem to exhibit the philosophy that "life is more than just work" and that flexibility in regard to work design is important. Human resource portfolios would be advised to consider opportunities for cross-training to better meet such expectations, especially for females.