Abstract:
The aim of this research is to explore sex differences in undergraduates’ choices of
potential employers. It focuses on a major employer (‘the Firm’), wishing to increase
the number of job applications it receives from female undergraduates, and comprises
three linked projects. No previous research was found that addresses sex differences in
organisational choice.
In the first project, a contribution is made by identifying, using Repertory Grids, eightyfour
organisational attributes by which undergraduates differentiate between potential
employers. A survey in the second project found organisational attractiveness (the
product of the importance of organisational attributes and the perceived extent of their
presence in a particular organisation) positively correlated with likelihood to apply. Sex
differences were found in both components of organisational attractiveness: a new
contribution to the literature.
Regression analysis revealed the attributes that predict women’s likelihood to apply to
the Firm: ‘people with whom I have things in common’; ‘friendly, informal culture’;
‘cares about its employees as individuals’; and ‘dynamic, forward-looking approach to
its business’. The Firm’s image in these areas was found to require improvement and, in
the final project, group interviews with female new joiners (to the Firm) identified
tangible ‘cues’ that the Firm can use to signal the predictor attributes to undergraduates.
Having identified the importance of interaction with employees in forming
undergraduates’ images of organisations, a new approach was developed to measure the
employees’ image of the Firm, and this was supplemented by group interviews. The
results contribute to practice and literature by revealing that the employees’ image is not
universally strong and, in talking with undergraduates, they ‘tell it like it is’. This study
highlights that, ultimately, the Firm’s desired image must be supported by employees’
experiences of it, which management may need to examine further if the Firm is to
attract more female undergraduates.
