The Paradox of the Contented Female Lawyer

Abstract

This research note calls attention to some basic but rather neglected questions about life in the legal profession: Are lawyers happy in their work? Do patterns of stratification within the profession translate into differences in work satisfaction? Does satisfaction with different components of legal work vary across employment statuses and practice contexts?Given that job satisfaction is a highly subjective phenomenon, some sociolegal scholars may question its value as an object of social scientific inquiry. I argue, however, that to ignore the question of lawyers' happiness is a mistake. Despite their limitations, studies of lawyers' work satisfaction can be useful in several ways. First, job satisfaction can be viewed as a stratification measure, complementing more traditional measures such as income and hierarchical position. If satisfaction is unevenly distributed within the profession in some systematic way (e.g., if women are less satisfied than men or if minorities less satisfied than whites), we might interpret this uneven distribution as a form of inequality and seek to explain its causes and possible remedies.

The Relationship between Professional Commitment and Teachers’ Professional Maturity in Normal College Students

“…Other recent studies explored the relationship between professional commitment and other factors, such as the intention to leave for professional advancement [13] and job satisfaction [14,15,16] and so on. Contrary to findings in Western studies claiming that overall job satisfaction is more likely to be affected by "job-content" than "job-context" variables [17], their survey data suggest that job satisfaction is primarily driven by "job-context," not by "job-content," variables in China. In addition, professional commitment significantly impacts overall job satisfaction.…”

Administração Hospitalar em Portugal: Evidências Estatísticas de Igualdade Homem – Mulher nas Percepções sobre os Sistemas de Avaliação de Desempenho

“…No contexto da administração da saúde em (Hull, 1999). A segunda justificação tem a ver com a constatação de que as mulheres atribuem maior valor à oportunidade de executar tarefas que as façam sentir realizadas e às boas relações com os colegas ao passo que os homens tendem a encarar a possibilidade de dirigir o trabalho de outros colaboradores na organização e de influenciar decisões relevantes como actividades de particular interesse (SCHULER, 1975).…”

A satisfação no trabalho e a perceção da qualidade de vida nos colaboradores do Instituto Politécnico do Porto

“…No que diz respeito ao género, a investigação na área ocupacional tem demonstrado que as mulheres estão mais satisfeitas com o trabalho que os seus colegas do género masculino, em diferentes classes profissionais (Clark, 1997;Dhawan, 2000;Hull, 1999;Sousa-Poza & SousaPoza, 2000a). Os autores explicam que, apesar de geralmente as mulheres possuírem uma remuneração mais baixa, este fator não tem um impacto muito negativo no grau de satisfação no trabalho devido a estas valorizarem mais as relações sociais (com os colegas e com o superior hierárquico e a tarefa) (Clark, 1997).…”