Sex, Race, and Job Satisfaction Among Highly Educated Workers

39 Pages Posted: 12 Oct 2015

See all articles by Joni Hersch

Joni Hersch

Vanderbilt University - Law School; IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Vanderbilt University - Owen Graduate School of Management; Vanderbilt University - College of Arts and Science - Department of Economics

Jean Xiao

Vanderbilt University - Law and Economics

Abstract

There has been a considerable amount of work focusing on job satisfaction and sex, generally finding that women are more satisfied than men despite having objectively worse job conditions. But there is little evidence on whether job satisfaction differs by race or ethnicity. We use data from the 2010 National Survey of College Graduates to examine the relation between job satisfaction and race and ethnicity among Asian, black, Hispanic/Latino, and white workers. Overall job satisfaction does not differ by sex among college graduates. Relative to white workers of the same sex, Asian and black workers are far less satisfied. The lower satisfaction of Asian and black workers relative to white workers is not explained by immigrant status, job match, or other individual or job characteristics.

Keywords: job satisfaction, gender, race and ethnicity, immigrants, college graduates, discrimination

JEL Classification: J15, J16, J28, J71

Suggested Citation

Hersch, Joni and Xiao, Jean, Sex, Race, and Job Satisfaction Among Highly Educated Workers. IZA Discussion Paper No. 9355, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2672141 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2672141

Joni Hersch (Contact Author)

Vanderbilt University - Law School ( email )

131 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203-1181
United States
615-343-7717 (Phone)
615-322-6631 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://law.vanderbilt.edu/bio/?pid=joni-hersch

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Vanderbilt University - Owen Graduate School of Management

401 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
United States

HOME PAGE: http://business.vanderbilt.edu/bio/joni-hersch/

Vanderbilt University - College of Arts and Science - Department of Economics

Box 1819 Station B
Nashville, TN 37235
United States

Jean Xiao

Vanderbilt University - Law and Economics ( email )

Nashville, TN
United States

HOME PAGE: http://law.vanderbilt.edu/phd/students/jeanxiao.php

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