Sex differences in occupational performance.

Abstract

We tested the assumption that labor organizations possess structural arrangements that may favor specific individual abilities based on neurophysiological characteristics. As some basic abilities vary between sexes, so will the occupational performance of individuals, according to the labor organization they work for. We assumed that: (1) Females possess a higher perceptual sensibility (perceptual speed and accuracy), which allows them to discriminate rapid apparition events and fine changes in the environment, in contrast to males who have a greater ability to manage spatial relationships. (2) Organizations with a functional structure require more fine perceptual abilities and these requirements are stronger at higher levels of the hierarchy. (3) Occupational performance is related to basic abilities required for a specific task, leading women to have higher occupational performance than men in labor organizations with a functional structure. By studying the technical and administrative staff of the Universidad Simón Bolivar (Venezuela), we present evidence that women have a greater capacity for perceptual discrimination; that this capacity relates to occupational performance in a labor organization with a functional structure; and that this relation is stronger at higher levels in the hierarchy. However, the extremely small sample size available for this study limits the possible generalizations of these results to other populations.