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Careers in the Dutch civil service: a gender perspective

Erasmus University, Rotterdam

This article focuses upon gender differences in the satisfaction with career opportunities of civil servants in the Netherlands. Women have become better represented at all levels in the Dutch civil service in recent years, but they are still underrepresented in the higher level positions. Nevertheless, women are slightly more satisfied with their career opportunities than men are and they seem to be increasingly so. Their relatively positive evaluation of extrinsic aspects of their work situation is one of the explanations of this finding, as is their higher intrinsic work motivation compared to that of men. It is suggested that the career orientations and aspirations of women better fit the changing context of career formation in the Dutch civil service and the accompanying new psychological contract.

Points for practitioners

The Dutch civil service has set ambitious targets with respect to the representation of women at all levels in the service, but insight into the determinants of women’s careers in the public sector is still very scarce. The findings in this article show that there are gender differences in the weighting of intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the work in evaluating one’s career opportunities. Besides, the article may assist human resource management practitioners in anticipating the impact of changing career trajectories on the career satisfaction of male and female civil servants.

Key Words: career opportunities • civil service • gender • human resource management • work orientation

International Review of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 75, No. 3, 493-507 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0020852309337685


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