Purpose In recent decades, women have been entering the global workforce at a rapid rate. This cross-sectional study examines changes in work goal preferences (interest, good pay, interpersonal relations, job security, etc.) in Israel by gender, between 1981 and 2019. Design/methodology/approach The cross-sectional data were collected by administering the Meaning of Work questionnaire to a representative sample of the Israeli labor force in 1981, 1993, 2006 and again in 2019. Findings Over the past 4 decades, there have been substantial changes in work goal preferences, with women and men's values becoming increasingly similar. Since 1981, both genders have shown a significant and continuous increase in the importance they attach to job security, which now has similar importance for them both. Still, women regard interpersonal relations and convenient work hours as more important than do men, while men regard autonomy and pay as more important than do women. The findings indicate increased potential for work–family conflict among Israeli women in the last decades. Practical implications The growing work–family conflict can be reduced by socioeconomic policy measures, including flexible working hours or working partly from home. Organizations should create a sense of job security at the workplace, and we suggest several relevant practices. Originality/value This study is unique due to the fact that it explores gender differences in work goal preferences over a period of almost 40 years and explains the causes for the major trends in terms of socioeconomic and political changes.
Sharabi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.