The impact of ethnic origin and gender on image of occupations and salience of work rewards: A multicultural approach

The study examined the impact of ethnic culture and gender on attitudes toward work and occupations among Soviet immigrant and Israeli students. The research focused on image of occupations (sex-typing and prestige of occupations), as well as on perceived salience of work rewards. On the whole, it was found that ethnic culture had a greater impact than gender on these attitudes. Most of the occupations were evaluated as more masculine by the immigrants than by the Israelis. Moreover, occupations related to law enforcement were viewed as more prestigious by the immigrants than by the Israelis. With regard to work rewards, the Israelis attributed more salience than the immigrants to three aspects (social factors, instrumental factors, and working conditions). No differences were found between the two groups in the intrinsic aspect of work. At the same time, gender also had an impact on the attitudes examined, although this impact was less significant than that of ethnic culture. Regardless of origin, some of the prestigious occupations were perceived as more feminine by the women than by the men. In the same vein, women tended to attribute a higher degree of salience to comfortable working conditions than men. These findings elicited a number of practical recommendations for career counsellors working with new immigrants.