Manajemen | Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji joeb.82.5.291-294
Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Family Benefits—What Are Students' Attitudes and
Expectations by Gender?
Karen K. Waner , Janet K. Winter & Joan C. Mansfield
To cite this article: Karen K. Waner , Janet K. Winter & Joan C. Mansfield (2007) Family
Benefits—What Are Students' Attitudes and Expectations by Gender?, Journal of Education for
Business, 82:5, 291-294, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.82.5.291-294
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.82.5.291-294
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 25
View related articles
Citing articles: 3 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=vjeb20
Download by: [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji]
Date: 11 January 2016, At: 23:28
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:28 11 January 2016
FamilyBenefits—WhatAreStudents’
AttitudesandExpectationsbyGender?
KARENK.WANER
JANETK.WINTER
JOANC.MANSFIELD
UNIVERSITYOFCENTRALMISSOURI
WARRENSBURG,MISSOURI
ABSTRACT.Benefitsandleavepoliciesareimportantaspectsofemployment
whenemployeesattempttobalancecareer
andfamily.Thesepoliciesincludesalary,
promotion,vacation,tuitionreimbursement,
sickleave,medicalinsurance,lifeinsurance,maternityorpaternityleave,eldercareleave,discriminatoryleave,andcompanysupportandcounseling.Theauthors
examinedthestudents’attitudesconcerning
benefitsandleavepoliciesintheworkplace.Aone-wayanalysisofvariance
revealedthatvacationleave,sickleave,
andfamilyleaveinvolvingchildrenwere
moreimportanttowomenthantomen.A
Wilcoxonranksumtestrankedfamilyleave
I
n a world where cut-throat competition,constantlychangingmarkets,and
uncertaintyarethenorm,businessesare
looking for stability and savings. Both
employees and employers face great
uncertainties every day, and simple survival is the focus of both groups. Swift
changesinnationalunemploymentrates
and job changes are causing employers
totakeaseriouslookatbenefitspackages.Inthepast6years,thecostofmedical coverage has increased about 75%
(Wiener, 2004), and benefits expenses
canbeasmuchas30%ofacompany’s
totalcompensationbill,accordingtoone
researchreport(Long,1999).Withsuch
high costs, finding the right compensation package is vital for success for
employersaswellasemployees.
astheNumber1benefitforbothmenand
ReviewoftheLiterature
women.
ChangingCompensationNeeds
Keywords:benefits,career,family,leave
policy,studentattitude
Copyright©2007HeldrefPublications
Employee recruitment, compensation, and retention are serious problems for businesses. In 2004, Wiener
reportedthatbenefitsmayadduptoas
muchas40%ofthecompensationbill,
but appropriateness and adequacy are
just as severe problems as are costs.A
former U.S. Labor Department solicitor, Marc Machiz, described the problem of employee compensation as “a
patchwork of coverage that is becoming intolerable” (Wiener, p. 2). Jurisic
(1999)identifiedthecausesoftheproblem as corporate downsizing and technological advances in the global work-
place,predictingthatbuilding,parking,
transportation, and childcare costs will
encourage creative workplace changes,
such as more telecommuting, rather
thanchangesinthebenefitspackages.
Recent reports show that to remain
competitiveintheuncertainglobalmarketplace, employers are also shifting
thecostsofbenefitstotheiremployees
wheneverpossible(Dorman,2001).The
FamilyandMedicalLeaveActof1993
and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act
of 1978, which describe pregnancy as
a compensable disability, are putting
heavierdemandsoncompensationbudgets. As mothers and fathers struggle
withthedesiretousefamilyleaveand
the possibility that using such benefits
will affect their career advancement
(Winters, 2001), employers juggle legislativedemands,employeewishes,and
employeeactions.
Another trend that is creating problems is the breakup of the family and
other changes in family structures and
commitments. The number of singleparent families has created a need for
moreflexibleleavepolicies.Thedesire
forimprovedstandardsoflivingandthe
needforrecreationtocombatescalating
levels of stress have encouraged some
womentoentertheworkplacetoafford
their lifestyles. As women leave jobs
to have families and then return with
childcare responsibilities, the compensation packages become more complicated. This condition has also resulted
in a fairness issue with women being
May/June2007
291
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:28 11 January 2016
treated more harshly or more leniently
in terms of working hours and leave,
thus aggravating the problem of equitableleavebenefits(Hayashi,2001).
Changesinthenatureandcomposition
oftheworkdayarealsomakingequitable
compensation difficult for employers.
AccordingtoCrispell(1996),employees
appear to be working almost nonstop—
in buses, in trains, in planes, at home,
andduringlunchbreaks.However,they
also appear to be taking care of more
personal business on work time. Some
industries can deal with such problems
bybasingcompensationontaskcompletion,ratherthantimeclocked,butmany
aredesperatelyseekingwaystomeasure
employeeworth.
In industries in which the employee
pool is shallow, benefits programs that
inspire employee loyalty are crucial.
Evenforemployerswithagoodpoolof
job candidates, loyalty is important for
containinghighrecruitmentandtraining
costs.Ina1999report,Longstated,
According to the Benefits Effectiveness
Index compiled by the benefits consultants Towers Perrin, the average UK
company spends about 30 per cent of
payroll each year on employee benefits.
But because it [the UK company] fails
to communicate this spend [expenditure
forbenefits],employeestendtoseetheir
remunerationonlyintermsofthenetfigureontheirpayslips....Thebadnews:
most benefits packages fail to motivate
and retain staff. The good news: better
communication—and a little imagination—canhelp.(p.1)
BenefitsProgramsinEvolution
Itisclearthatmanyfactorsaffectthe
compositionofcompensationpackages.
Because of changes, such as advances
in medical science and fragmentation
ofthefamily,workersareattemptingto
copewithchangesintheenvironmentas
well as changes in their personal lives.
The increase in the number of singleparent families has amplified the need
for childcare, and advances in medical science have resulted in the escalating problem of eldercare (Solomon,
1999;Yandrick,2001)andtheneedfor
stronger retirement plans. It is apparent that increases in educational levels
have given employees better skills to
work harder and smarter, which has
also given them the desire to expand
292
JournalofEducationforBusiness
their horizons through extracurricular
creativeendeavorsandlongervacations
torejuvenatetheirresources.
Some other societal trends are also
affectingwhoisworkingandforwhat
compensation. According to a study
by Quinn, Ehrenfeld, Reno, Downey,
and Roberts (2000), young men’s real
wagesareincreasing,andyoungwomen’sfertilityrates(andconsequentneed
for maternity benefits) are increasing
correspondingly. More women 36–40
areoptingforpart-timejobs,andthese
aremostlikelytobethewomenatthe
more highly paid jobs. Quinn et al.
alsoreportedthatwomenaregravitating more toward traditional women’s
jobs in nursing and teaching, as well
as securing jobs with flexible schedules and more telecommuting. These
changes in working hours and career
pathsareaffectingthetypesofbenefits
packagesthatemployersarewillingto
offer. However, some women are creating their own positions and benefits
packages by opting for self-employment. According to Skube (2002),
womenarestarting65–75%ofallnew
smallbusinesses.
PossibleAnswersfortheBenefits
Dilemma
AccordingtotheU.S.Bureauofthe
Census, 72% of women in 2001 held
jobs(Arnst,2002).Therefore,businesses are realizing the need to offer benefitsthatspecificallyaddresstheneeds
of women and mothers. In attempting
to offer family-friendly benefits, some
firms are becoming very creative. For
example,Dupontoffersasummercamp
foremployeesofonesite;HewittAssociateshasaMothersRoomthatoffersa
refrigerator and electric breast pumps;
John Hancock provides field trips for
children of its employees; Stride Rite
has a day care program in which childrenandseniorsinteract;andWegmans
FoodMarketsboastChildDevelopment
Centersthatofferpettingzoos,gardens,
andtheaters(Miller&Tsiantar,1991).
The aforementioned on-site, family-friendly programs are one way that
employers are dealing with employee
needs. According to Gordon (2001),
some employers are even replacing
monetary compensation with intrinsic
rewards.CognexCorporationinNatick,
Massachusetts, sends letters of praise
to parents of exemplary employees in
additiontoawardingplaquesandcash.
In an article in Crain’s Chicago Business, Cappo (1999) reports the followingpreferencesfornewhires:
A report from the National Association
ofCollegesandEmployersindicatesthat
medicalinsuranceanda401(k)retirement
plan topped the list of benefits preferred
by a survey of recent grads. The young
peoplepreferreddentalandlifeinsurance
overanannualsalaryincrease;apension
planovermorethantwoweeks’vacation;
stockoptionsoveracasualdresspolicy;
andanon-sitefitnesscenteroveracompanycar.(p.2)
As businesses seek to trim benefits
packages and boost profits, communication may be the key. According to
Herman (2001), the worker of tomorrow will place more emphasis on selfactualization and less on money; the
focus will be on community involvement,familyissues,socialandspiritual
awareness,andenvironmentalconcerns.
This trend may be the key for providingcost-effectivebenefitsthatpromote
employee loyalty. But understanding
employee needs and translating them
into action will involve communicatingeffectivelyandsolvingtheproblem,
ratherthanthrowingmoneyatthesymptom.Perhapsevenmoreimportantthan
employer understanding of employee
needs is employees’ understanding of
theirownneeds.
Purpose
Whendesigningappropriatecompensation-and-benefits programs, employers can lessen their problems, as well
asthoseofemployees,byhelpingnew
hirestounderstandtheirownneedsand
thetypesofbenefitsthatmaysuitthem
best. Therefore, our purpose in this
studywastoattempttoidentifywhether
female and male students have different attitudes and expectations concerning benefits policies and which leave
policies are most important to those
students.Thus,weposedtheseresearch
questions:
1. Is there a significant difference
betweenfemaleandmalestudents’attitudes concerning benefits policies in
the workplace? Benefits policies sur-
veyedincludedsalary,salaryincreases,
promotion,vacation,tuitionreimbursement,sickleave,medicalinsurance,life
insurance, family leave involving childrenorparents,companyleavesupport,
andcounseling.
2. Is there a significant difference
betweenfemaleandmalestudentswhen
ranking the importance of leave policies? Leave policies surveyed included
maternity leave, paternity leave, eldercareleave,familyleave,anddiscriminatoryleave(anemployeemaytakeleave
whendesiredwithoutexplainingwhy).
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:28 11 January 2016
SampleDemographics
Thesampleconsistedof161students:
72 women and 89 men. The full-time
students were enrolled in junior-level
management courses in an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of
Business-International-accredited business college at a midwestern regional
university. Seventy-four percent of the
students were under 23 years of age;
21% were between 23 and 30 years
of age; 5% were over 30 years of age.
Also, 91% did not have children, and
92% were not married. Fifty-two percent of the students had only part-time
ortemporaryworkexperience,whereas
12% of the students had 1–2 years of
full-time work experience; 11% of the
studentshad3–4yearsoffull-timework
experience;21%had5ormoreyearsof
full-timeworkexperience;and4%had
noworkexperience.
When asked to check their goal for
10 years from now, 15% wanted to be
workingatthetoplevelinasmallcompany;34%wantedtobeworkingtoward
a top-level position in a medium-sized
company; and 51% wanted to work
towardatop-levelpositionofanareaor
departmentinalargecompany.
METHOD
We conducted a face-validity check
onthesurvey,whichshowedthatsome
termsneededtobedefined.Wedefined
the terms (e.g., family leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, eldercare
leave, discriminatory leave, company
leave support and counseling) for the
students and administered the survey
during class time. Students indicated
the importance of benefits policies to
thembymarkingonaLikert-typescale
(1 = not very important; 10 = very
important).
Also,studentsrankedleavepolicies
in terms of the importance to them
now (1 = most important; 5 = least
important). An analysis of variance
(ANOVA)wasusedtoanalyzethedata
aboutbenefitspolicies,andaWilcoxon
rank sum test was used to analyze
therankingsofleavepolicies.Because
the study used an accidental sample,
researchesshoulduseextremecircumspectionwhengeneralizingthesefindings and conclusions to other populations(Kerlinger,1986).
RESULTS
Is there a significant difference
between female students’ and male
students’ attitudes concerning benefits
policiesintheworkplace?Femaleand
male students’ attitudes differed significantlyregarding3typesofbenefits
policies (see Table 1). The ANOVA
revealed that vacation policies were
significantlymoreimportanttowomen
than to men, F(1, 159) = 4.04, p =
.05 (for women, M = 7.65, SD = 1.91
and for men, M = 7.04, SD = 1.91).
In addition, women valued sick-leave
policy (M = 7.43, SD = 1.80) significantly more than men did (M = 6.30,
SD = 2.33), F(1, 159) = 11.38, p =
.001. When children were a concern,
women (M = 8.21, SD = 1.85) placed
significantlymoreimportanceonfamilyleavethandidmen(M=7.44,SD=
2.36),F(1,158)=5.03,p=.03.
Whichleavepoliciesaremostimportanttofemaleandmalestudentstoday?
The Wilcoxon rank sum test indicated significant differences between the
rankingsbywomenandmen(seeTable
2). When students ranked policies,
maternityleavewassignificantlyhigher
(p = .0000) for women than it was for
men.Likewise,womenrankedpaternity
leave significantly higher (p = .0091)
thanmenrankedit.
Table 3 shows women ranked leave
policies in the following order: Family
leave was most important, followed by
maternity leave, discriminatory leave,
TABLE1.Mean,StandardDeviation,FValues,andProbabilitiesofStudentAttitudesandPrioritiesConcerning
BenefitPoliciesbyGender
Benefitspolicy
Salary
Ratesofsalaryincreases
Rateorpromotion
Vacationpolicy
Tuitionreimbursement
Sick-leavepay
Medicalinsurance
Lifeinsurance
Familyleavechildren
Familyleaveparents
Companyleavesupportandcounseling
M
Women
SD
n
M
Men
SD
n
Fvalue
p>F
8.53
8.15
8.29
7.65
6.31
7.43
8.97
8.39
8.21
8.11
5.98
1.58
1.70
1.64
1.91
2.58
1.80
1.59
1.76
1.85
1.97
2.17
72
72
72
72
72
72
72
72
72
72
72
8.33
8.26
8.28
7.04
6.08
6.30
8.67
8.13
7.44
7.46
5.69
1.65
1.55
1.76
1.91
2.74
2.33
1.35
1.92
2.36
2.29
2.48
88
89
89
89
89
89
89
89
88
89
89
0.59
0.17
0.00
4.04*
0.29
11.38**
1.65
0.75
5.03*
3.63
0.65
0.4417
0.6810
0.9684
0.0460
0.5926
0.0009
0.2013
0.3882
0.0262
0.0585
0.4195
Note.Likert-typescale:1=notveryimportant,10=veryimportant.Pr=Partialcorrelation.
p
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Family Benefits—What Are Students' Attitudes and
Expectations by Gender?
Karen K. Waner , Janet K. Winter & Joan C. Mansfield
To cite this article: Karen K. Waner , Janet K. Winter & Joan C. Mansfield (2007) Family
Benefits—What Are Students' Attitudes and Expectations by Gender?, Journal of Education for
Business, 82:5, 291-294, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.82.5.291-294
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.82.5.291-294
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 25
View related articles
Citing articles: 3 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=vjeb20
Download by: [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji]
Date: 11 January 2016, At: 23:28
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:28 11 January 2016
FamilyBenefits—WhatAreStudents’
AttitudesandExpectationsbyGender?
KARENK.WANER
JANETK.WINTER
JOANC.MANSFIELD
UNIVERSITYOFCENTRALMISSOURI
WARRENSBURG,MISSOURI
ABSTRACT.Benefitsandleavepoliciesareimportantaspectsofemployment
whenemployeesattempttobalancecareer
andfamily.Thesepoliciesincludesalary,
promotion,vacation,tuitionreimbursement,
sickleave,medicalinsurance,lifeinsurance,maternityorpaternityleave,eldercareleave,discriminatoryleave,andcompanysupportandcounseling.Theauthors
examinedthestudents’attitudesconcerning
benefitsandleavepoliciesintheworkplace.Aone-wayanalysisofvariance
revealedthatvacationleave,sickleave,
andfamilyleaveinvolvingchildrenwere
moreimportanttowomenthantomen.A
Wilcoxonranksumtestrankedfamilyleave
I
n a world where cut-throat competition,constantlychangingmarkets,and
uncertaintyarethenorm,businessesare
looking for stability and savings. Both
employees and employers face great
uncertainties every day, and simple survival is the focus of both groups. Swift
changesinnationalunemploymentrates
and job changes are causing employers
totakeaseriouslookatbenefitspackages.Inthepast6years,thecostofmedical coverage has increased about 75%
(Wiener, 2004), and benefits expenses
canbeasmuchas30%ofacompany’s
totalcompensationbill,accordingtoone
researchreport(Long,1999).Withsuch
high costs, finding the right compensation package is vital for success for
employersaswellasemployees.
astheNumber1benefitforbothmenand
ReviewoftheLiterature
women.
ChangingCompensationNeeds
Keywords:benefits,career,family,leave
policy,studentattitude
Copyright©2007HeldrefPublications
Employee recruitment, compensation, and retention are serious problems for businesses. In 2004, Wiener
reportedthatbenefitsmayadduptoas
muchas40%ofthecompensationbill,
but appropriateness and adequacy are
just as severe problems as are costs.A
former U.S. Labor Department solicitor, Marc Machiz, described the problem of employee compensation as “a
patchwork of coverage that is becoming intolerable” (Wiener, p. 2). Jurisic
(1999)identifiedthecausesoftheproblem as corporate downsizing and technological advances in the global work-
place,predictingthatbuilding,parking,
transportation, and childcare costs will
encourage creative workplace changes,
such as more telecommuting, rather
thanchangesinthebenefitspackages.
Recent reports show that to remain
competitiveintheuncertainglobalmarketplace, employers are also shifting
thecostsofbenefitstotheiremployees
wheneverpossible(Dorman,2001).The
FamilyandMedicalLeaveActof1993
and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act
of 1978, which describe pregnancy as
a compensable disability, are putting
heavierdemandsoncompensationbudgets. As mothers and fathers struggle
withthedesiretousefamilyleaveand
the possibility that using such benefits
will affect their career advancement
(Winters, 2001), employers juggle legislativedemands,employeewishes,and
employeeactions.
Another trend that is creating problems is the breakup of the family and
other changes in family structures and
commitments. The number of singleparent families has created a need for
moreflexibleleavepolicies.Thedesire
forimprovedstandardsoflivingandthe
needforrecreationtocombatescalating
levels of stress have encouraged some
womentoentertheworkplacetoafford
their lifestyles. As women leave jobs
to have families and then return with
childcare responsibilities, the compensation packages become more complicated. This condition has also resulted
in a fairness issue with women being
May/June2007
291
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:28 11 January 2016
treated more harshly or more leniently
in terms of working hours and leave,
thus aggravating the problem of equitableleavebenefits(Hayashi,2001).
Changesinthenatureandcomposition
oftheworkdayarealsomakingequitable
compensation difficult for employers.
AccordingtoCrispell(1996),employees
appear to be working almost nonstop—
in buses, in trains, in planes, at home,
andduringlunchbreaks.However,they
also appear to be taking care of more
personal business on work time. Some
industries can deal with such problems
bybasingcompensationontaskcompletion,ratherthantimeclocked,butmany
aredesperatelyseekingwaystomeasure
employeeworth.
In industries in which the employee
pool is shallow, benefits programs that
inspire employee loyalty are crucial.
Evenforemployerswithagoodpoolof
job candidates, loyalty is important for
containinghighrecruitmentandtraining
costs.Ina1999report,Longstated,
According to the Benefits Effectiveness
Index compiled by the benefits consultants Towers Perrin, the average UK
company spends about 30 per cent of
payroll each year on employee benefits.
But because it [the UK company] fails
to communicate this spend [expenditure
forbenefits],employeestendtoseetheir
remunerationonlyintermsofthenetfigureontheirpayslips....Thebadnews:
most benefits packages fail to motivate
and retain staff. The good news: better
communication—and a little imagination—canhelp.(p.1)
BenefitsProgramsinEvolution
Itisclearthatmanyfactorsaffectthe
compositionofcompensationpackages.
Because of changes, such as advances
in medical science and fragmentation
ofthefamily,workersareattemptingto
copewithchangesintheenvironmentas
well as changes in their personal lives.
The increase in the number of singleparent families has amplified the need
for childcare, and advances in medical science have resulted in the escalating problem of eldercare (Solomon,
1999;Yandrick,2001)andtheneedfor
stronger retirement plans. It is apparent that increases in educational levels
have given employees better skills to
work harder and smarter, which has
also given them the desire to expand
292
JournalofEducationforBusiness
their horizons through extracurricular
creativeendeavorsandlongervacations
torejuvenatetheirresources.
Some other societal trends are also
affectingwhoisworkingandforwhat
compensation. According to a study
by Quinn, Ehrenfeld, Reno, Downey,
and Roberts (2000), young men’s real
wagesareincreasing,andyoungwomen’sfertilityrates(andconsequentneed
for maternity benefits) are increasing
correspondingly. More women 36–40
areoptingforpart-timejobs,andthese
aremostlikelytobethewomenatthe
more highly paid jobs. Quinn et al.
alsoreportedthatwomenaregravitating more toward traditional women’s
jobs in nursing and teaching, as well
as securing jobs with flexible schedules and more telecommuting. These
changes in working hours and career
pathsareaffectingthetypesofbenefits
packagesthatemployersarewillingto
offer. However, some women are creating their own positions and benefits
packages by opting for self-employment. According to Skube (2002),
womenarestarting65–75%ofallnew
smallbusinesses.
PossibleAnswersfortheBenefits
Dilemma
AccordingtotheU.S.Bureauofthe
Census, 72% of women in 2001 held
jobs(Arnst,2002).Therefore,businesses are realizing the need to offer benefitsthatspecificallyaddresstheneeds
of women and mothers. In attempting
to offer family-friendly benefits, some
firms are becoming very creative. For
example,Dupontoffersasummercamp
foremployeesofonesite;HewittAssociateshasaMothersRoomthatoffersa
refrigerator and electric breast pumps;
John Hancock provides field trips for
children of its employees; Stride Rite
has a day care program in which childrenandseniorsinteract;andWegmans
FoodMarketsboastChildDevelopment
Centersthatofferpettingzoos,gardens,
andtheaters(Miller&Tsiantar,1991).
The aforementioned on-site, family-friendly programs are one way that
employers are dealing with employee
needs. According to Gordon (2001),
some employers are even replacing
monetary compensation with intrinsic
rewards.CognexCorporationinNatick,
Massachusetts, sends letters of praise
to parents of exemplary employees in
additiontoawardingplaquesandcash.
In an article in Crain’s Chicago Business, Cappo (1999) reports the followingpreferencesfornewhires:
A report from the National Association
ofCollegesandEmployersindicatesthat
medicalinsuranceanda401(k)retirement
plan topped the list of benefits preferred
by a survey of recent grads. The young
peoplepreferreddentalandlifeinsurance
overanannualsalaryincrease;apension
planovermorethantwoweeks’vacation;
stockoptionsoveracasualdresspolicy;
andanon-sitefitnesscenteroveracompanycar.(p.2)
As businesses seek to trim benefits
packages and boost profits, communication may be the key. According to
Herman (2001), the worker of tomorrow will place more emphasis on selfactualization and less on money; the
focus will be on community involvement,familyissues,socialandspiritual
awareness,andenvironmentalconcerns.
This trend may be the key for providingcost-effectivebenefitsthatpromote
employee loyalty. But understanding
employee needs and translating them
into action will involve communicatingeffectivelyandsolvingtheproblem,
ratherthanthrowingmoneyatthesymptom.Perhapsevenmoreimportantthan
employer understanding of employee
needs is employees’ understanding of
theirownneeds.
Purpose
Whendesigningappropriatecompensation-and-benefits programs, employers can lessen their problems, as well
asthoseofemployees,byhelpingnew
hirestounderstandtheirownneedsand
thetypesofbenefitsthatmaysuitthem
best. Therefore, our purpose in this
studywastoattempttoidentifywhether
female and male students have different attitudes and expectations concerning benefits policies and which leave
policies are most important to those
students.Thus,weposedtheseresearch
questions:
1. Is there a significant difference
betweenfemaleandmalestudents’attitudes concerning benefits policies in
the workplace? Benefits policies sur-
veyedincludedsalary,salaryincreases,
promotion,vacation,tuitionreimbursement,sickleave,medicalinsurance,life
insurance, family leave involving childrenorparents,companyleavesupport,
andcounseling.
2. Is there a significant difference
betweenfemaleandmalestudentswhen
ranking the importance of leave policies? Leave policies surveyed included
maternity leave, paternity leave, eldercareleave,familyleave,anddiscriminatoryleave(anemployeemaytakeleave
whendesiredwithoutexplainingwhy).
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 23:28 11 January 2016
SampleDemographics
Thesampleconsistedof161students:
72 women and 89 men. The full-time
students were enrolled in junior-level
management courses in an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of
Business-International-accredited business college at a midwestern regional
university. Seventy-four percent of the
students were under 23 years of age;
21% were between 23 and 30 years
of age; 5% were over 30 years of age.
Also, 91% did not have children, and
92% were not married. Fifty-two percent of the students had only part-time
ortemporaryworkexperience,whereas
12% of the students had 1–2 years of
full-time work experience; 11% of the
studentshad3–4yearsoffull-timework
experience;21%had5ormoreyearsof
full-timeworkexperience;and4%had
noworkexperience.
When asked to check their goal for
10 years from now, 15% wanted to be
workingatthetoplevelinasmallcompany;34%wantedtobeworkingtoward
a top-level position in a medium-sized
company; and 51% wanted to work
towardatop-levelpositionofanareaor
departmentinalargecompany.
METHOD
We conducted a face-validity check
onthesurvey,whichshowedthatsome
termsneededtobedefined.Wedefined
the terms (e.g., family leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, eldercare
leave, discriminatory leave, company
leave support and counseling) for the
students and administered the survey
during class time. Students indicated
the importance of benefits policies to
thembymarkingonaLikert-typescale
(1 = not very important; 10 = very
important).
Also,studentsrankedleavepolicies
in terms of the importance to them
now (1 = most important; 5 = least
important). An analysis of variance
(ANOVA)wasusedtoanalyzethedata
aboutbenefitspolicies,andaWilcoxon
rank sum test was used to analyze
therankingsofleavepolicies.Because
the study used an accidental sample,
researchesshoulduseextremecircumspectionwhengeneralizingthesefindings and conclusions to other populations(Kerlinger,1986).
RESULTS
Is there a significant difference
between female students’ and male
students’ attitudes concerning benefits
policiesintheworkplace?Femaleand
male students’ attitudes differed significantlyregarding3typesofbenefits
policies (see Table 1). The ANOVA
revealed that vacation policies were
significantlymoreimportanttowomen
than to men, F(1, 159) = 4.04, p =
.05 (for women, M = 7.65, SD = 1.91
and for men, M = 7.04, SD = 1.91).
In addition, women valued sick-leave
policy (M = 7.43, SD = 1.80) significantly more than men did (M = 6.30,
SD = 2.33), F(1, 159) = 11.38, p =
.001. When children were a concern,
women (M = 8.21, SD = 1.85) placed
significantlymoreimportanceonfamilyleavethandidmen(M=7.44,SD=
2.36),F(1,158)=5.03,p=.03.
Whichleavepoliciesaremostimportanttofemaleandmalestudentstoday?
The Wilcoxon rank sum test indicated significant differences between the
rankingsbywomenandmen(seeTable
2). When students ranked policies,
maternityleavewassignificantlyhigher
(p = .0000) for women than it was for
men.Likewise,womenrankedpaternity
leave significantly higher (p = .0091)
thanmenrankedit.
Table 3 shows women ranked leave
policies in the following order: Family
leave was most important, followed by
maternity leave, discriminatory leave,
TABLE1.Mean,StandardDeviation,FValues,andProbabilitiesofStudentAttitudesandPrioritiesConcerning
BenefitPoliciesbyGender
Benefitspolicy
Salary
Ratesofsalaryincreases
Rateorpromotion
Vacationpolicy
Tuitionreimbursement
Sick-leavepay
Medicalinsurance
Lifeinsurance
Familyleavechildren
Familyleaveparents
Companyleavesupportandcounseling
M
Women
SD
n
M
Men
SD
n
Fvalue
p>F
8.53
8.15
8.29
7.65
6.31
7.43
8.97
8.39
8.21
8.11
5.98
1.58
1.70
1.64
1.91
2.58
1.80
1.59
1.76
1.85
1.97
2.17
72
72
72
72
72
72
72
72
72
72
72
8.33
8.26
8.28
7.04
6.08
6.30
8.67
8.13
7.44
7.46
5.69
1.65
1.55
1.76
1.91
2.74
2.33
1.35
1.92
2.36
2.29
2.48
88
89
89
89
89
89
89
89
88
89
89
0.59
0.17
0.00
4.04*
0.29
11.38**
1.65
0.75
5.03*
3.63
0.65
0.4417
0.6810
0.9684
0.0460
0.5926
0.0009
0.2013
0.3882
0.0262
0.0585
0.4195
Note.Likert-typescale:1=notveryimportant,10=veryimportant.Pr=Partialcorrelation.
p