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Although African Americans have made progress in reaching middle and upper management positions, a disproportionate number are stalled in lower levels of management where their remuneration often lags behind that of Whites in comparable positions. Further penetration into executive ranks may depend largely on the perceptions and attitudes of employers. Negative stereotypes held by top managers may have a deleterious effect on African American opportunities. Among a sample of White middle managers, Schein's (1973, 1975) descriptive index revealed a significant resemblance between ratings of Whites and ratings of managers (r' = .54), whereas the resemblance between ratings of Blacks and ratings of managers was nonsignificant (r' = .17). Managers were perceived to possess characteristics more commonly ascribed to Whites than to African Americans.

Sex differences in job orientation found by Manhardt (1972) were explored to determine if they still exist, or if a trend toward similarity as found in studies on traits and behaviors prevails. Significant sex differences were found on 8 of 25 job characteristics, compared with 11 found by Manhardt. In the original study, factor analysis indicated that males value long-range career objectives while females prefer a comfortable working environment and pleasant interpersonal relationships. This study extracted similar factors which explained twice the variance found in the original. However, sex differences on factor preference were mixed. Further, results show that males are less homogeneous in their preference than are females, a complete reversal of results found previously. Implications for personnel managers in handling differences on job orientation of males and females are discussed.ATTITUDES toward sex differences in American business society have undergone a number of changes in the past decade. The trend has been toward a decrease in the perceived differences which exist between males and females in terms of attitudes, values, traits, behaviors, abilities, and motivation, factors which influence the type of job or career which an individual will prefer. Much of the research which has been performed during this time provides support for the theory of sex similarities in the business community.Research by Gaebelein and Nirenberg (1976) found that males and females are equally aggressive, a result which challenges the stereotype of the aggressive male and the submissive female. Lirtzman and Wahba (1972) arrived at a similar conclusion. Bartol (1974) discovered that dominant males and dominant females were equally adept as leaders, although Schein (1972) found that social role prescriptions act to inhibit high dominant women from assuming leadership. Schein (1973, 1975) also discovered that both male and female middle managers perceive that successful managers possess characteristics, attitudes, and temperaments more commonly ascribed to men in general than to women in general. Schein (1978) indicates that such stereotyping tends to reduce females' opportunity to advance in organiza-

Differences in job orientation between black and white male and female business college graduates were examined. Significant race differences were found on 10 of 25 job characteristics, with blacks rating 9 of these more important than whites. Significant race by sex interactions exist on four characteristics, while sex differences were found on nine. Factor analysis indicates that blacks value long-range career objectives and structure considerably more than do whites, while their preference for intrinsic and extrinsic factors was less pronounced. Methods by which organizations can satisfy the greater importance placed on many job characteristics by blacks are explored.PROGRESSIVE business organizations generally attempt to fulfill the needs of their employees by structuring jobs which result in motivated, satisfied, and productive workers. As increasing numbers of blacks enter managerial positions in industry which were formerly reserved primarily for whites, employers are faced with the task of maintaining the efficiencies of standardized jobs and, at the same time, fulfilling the needs of both black and white management employees. Thus, it is vital that the business community determine if blacks and whites expect the same things from a job, or if black expectations differ from those of whites. Williams (1975) points out that because of cultural diversity, organizations will continue to encounter a wide spectrum of socio-political administrative problems. If this is the case, then business firms must consider the The authors extend their appreciation to Courtney Brooks for her assistance and helpful comments in the preparation of this manuscript.White mean rating minus black mean rating. Table 2 for signilkant ANOVA race effects. See Factor loadinggreater than or equal to .40.

PurposeThe 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/approachSince 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.FindingsResults 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/valueThe 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.