Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
2026
Department
Political Science
Abstract
Public and nonprofit organizations exhibit high rates of female employment often attributed to sector structures and social roles. To better understand how individual behaviors dynamically contribute to these distinctive ratios, we deconstruct public and nonprofit employment into gendered patterns of attraction and attachment. Using duration analysis and following a cohort from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this research finds that women demonstrate a higher attraction to their first public and nonprofit job compared to men, evidenced through a faster rate of entry into this employment. There are no significant gender differences when considering the duration of an individual's first stint in these sectors. Additional investigation finds that these sector-level patterns, when decomposed to account for gender-dominant professions, are driven by stronger female attraction to female-dominated professions while masking higher female turnover from male-dominated professions. Results inform recruitment and retention strategies for public and nonprofit organizations.
Evidence for Practice:
- Entry into public and nonprofit sectors is highly associated with gender.
- This significance of attraction to public and nonprofit work suggests that gender equity strategies in these sectors may be effective during recruitment phases.
- Public and nonprofit organizations should calibrate recruitment and retention strategies depending on the gender dominance of the professions they are targeting.
- For male-dominated jobs, women are significantly more likely to exit at any point in their careers; this shorter duration suggests organizations should implement concrete mechanisms to help counter systemic issues.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Public Administration Review
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Marrese, T., Liu, Y., & Handy, F. (2026). The Gendered Path of Least Resistance: First Entry and Exit Behaviors of Public and Nonprofit Employees. Public Administration Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.70181
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.70181
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.