| dc.description.abstract | The literature on job mobility patterns and search behaviour has highlighted
significant gender differences. Women on average appear to suffer a higher risk of
redundancy or dismissal, they exhibit a lesser commitment to the labour market
activity, and they are relatively less mobile than men (Theodossiou, 2002). They are
also more likely to exit employment for employee-initiated reasons, namely a family
or personal reason, in contrast to men who are more likely to exit employment for an
employer-initiated reason such as layoff or dismissal (Keith and McWilliams, 1997).
However, although women are more likely to exit employment for a voluntary reason
compared to men, men are more likely to be engaged in on-the-job search aiming at
voluntary job mobility compared to women (Parson, 1991; van Ophem, 1991; Keith
and McWilliams, 1999). The primary reason for these gender differences in the labour
market behaviour are the societal constraints associated with women’s dominant role
in childcare. Hersch and Stratton (1997) show that women, especially married
women, spend three times more time engaged in household activities and are
substantially more prepared to quit their job for a family-related reason than men are
(Keith and McWilliams, 1997; Theodossiou, 2002). | en |
