How gender and personality traits influence job preferences among students in Norway and Poland

Opstad, Leiv; Karevoll, Gurid Gjøstein; Lewicka, Dagmara; Årethun, Torbjørn Article How gender and personality traits influence job preferences among students in Norway and Poland Cogent Business & Management Provided in Cooperation with: Taylor & Francis Group Suggested Citation: Opstad, Leiv; Karevoll, Gurid Gjøstein; Lewicka, Dagmara; Årethun, Torbjørn (2024) : How gender and personality traits influence job preferences among students in Norway and Poland, Cogent Business & Management, ISSN 2331-1975, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, Vol. 11, Iss. 1, pp. 1-19, https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2354946 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/326293 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. 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If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Cogent Business & Management ISSN: 2331-1975 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/oabm20 How gender and personality traits influence job preferences among students in Norway and Poland Leiv Opstad, Gurid Gjøstein Karevoll, Dagmara Lewicka & Torbjørn Årethun To cite this article: Leiv Opstad, Gurid Gjøstein Karevoll, Dagmara Lewicka & Torbjørn Årethun (2024) How gender and personality traits influence job preferences among students in Norway and Poland, Cogent Business & Management, 11:1, 2354946, DOI: 10.1080/23311975.2024.2354946 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2354946 © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 06 Jun 2024. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 1477 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=oabm20 ManageMent | ReseaRch aRticle Cogent Business & ManageMent 2024, VoL. 11, no. 1, 2354946 How gender and personality traits influence job preferences among students in Norway and Poland leiv Opstada , gurid gjøstein Karevollb , Dagmara lewickac and torbjørn Årethunb anorwegian university of science and technology, trondheim, norway; bWestern norway university of applied sciences, sogndal, norway; cDepartment of Business Management, agH university of science and technology, Krakow, Poland ABSTRACT the article explores job preferences among business students through the lens of the Big Five personality traits, which have implications for students’ attitudes. this investigation is conducted within the contexts of norway and Poland, facilitating a comparative analysis of students from these two nations. empirical evidence comprises responses to questionnaires gathered from 178 Polish students and 147 norwegian students. By juxtaposing mean values and employing regression models, we scrutinized the link between personality traits and job preferences in both countries. the findings revealed that personality traits exhibit correlations with students’ job preferences, with a particularly notable impact observed in the domain of agreeableness. this trait demonstrates a positive association with job security, work-life balance, teamwork and societal contribution. Moreover, the effect varies between norwegian and Polish students, with discernible gender discrepancies. through this comparative examination, the study highlights the mediating influence of society on the relationship between personality traits and job preferences among business students. it emphasizes the imperative for future investigations to integrate cultural and societal factors into their analyses when exploring the impact of personality traits on job preferences. Introduction there are numerous job options available to today’s youth. With a quality education and impressive achievements, they have access to a wide range of opportunities that can help them realize a dream career (Murwani & caesar, 2016). the decision-making process for career choices should be based on accurate information, essential knowledge, sound advice, reliable future forecasts and, importantly, the individual’s interests, qualifications and personal characteristics (afaq ahmed et al., 2017). choosing a career path can be challenging. in norway, individuals with a master’s degree in business administration often find themselves engaged in a wide array of professions. the most common job is accountant at 8% (Utdanning, 2022). in Poland there are more than 30,000 vacancies in the areas of management and finance (source). Knowledge about how personal characteristics affect job choices can help businesses and governments understand how to attract students to apply to much needed positions. the gender gap in career choices is well documented (enache et al., 2011; tabassum & nayak, 2021). it is possible that the gender difference has decreased due to greater gender equality (Bertrand, 2020), and it is of interest to compare the outcomes in Poland and norway. a significant number of young people opt for higher education, with business administration being one to offer a wide range of careers after the educational track (sierra, 2023). this study seeks to © 2024 the author(s). Published by informa uK Limited, trading as taylor & Francis group CONTACT Leiv opstad leiv[email protected] norwegian university of science and technology, Klæbuveien 72, 7030 trondheim, norway https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2354946 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. the terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 2 June 2023 Revised 3 april 2024 accepted 29 april 2024 KEYWORDS Job preferences; business students; personality traits; gender; work-life balance; career REVIEWING EDITOR huifen (helen) cai, Middlesex University Business school, United Kingdom SUBJECTS human Resource Management; Public & nonprofit Management; Management education 2 l. OPstaD etal. analyse business students’ career preferences in Poland and norway and to examine whether there are differences in attitudes towards careers and job choices for students between these two countries. When businesses seek to attract students, they are not only searching for individuals with outstanding academic achievements but also for candidates possessing personality traits that enable them to excel in a specific career (hogan et al., 2013; John et al., 2020; semeijn et al., 2020). this study will inform businesses what types of personality traits affects business students to apply for specific jobs. By looking at two different countries this study also offers the added value of illustrating how culture and society affect career preferences between Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability, consciousness and openness). the importance of personality traits when opting for a career is students’ choices can be divided into two categories: social and psychological factors (Yener, 2011). Psychological factors consist of intellectual interests, ideas, beliefs, perceptions and personality traits. subject interest and personality types play a significant role in business students’ career choices, whereas future employment and financial rewards are less relevant (ahmed etal., 2017). students’ evaluations and choices are culturally influenced (Brown et al., 2017; stillman & stillman, 2017). an example of the importance of culture is found by abrahams et al. (2015). they compared two african countries with distinct cultures (Kenya and south africa) and found that the main factors for Kenyan students were personality types and subject interest, while south african students prioritized financial rewards. even though this study addresses a relevant topic, we are not aware of any published article addressing it by comparing countries like norway and Poland. hopefully, this article will contribute to knowledge in this field. this article is structured as follows. the first part goes through theory, literature and presents hypotheses with focusing on gender and Big Five personality traits. this is succeeded by the method and results, which are subsequently followed by a discussion and analysis. the article concludes with a summary and suggestions for future research. Theory, literature review and development of hypotheses Differences between Poland and Norway there is a cultural gap between norway and Poland. norway has a well-developed welfare state and a high standard of living. the country is characterized by good cohesion and high trust in the public sector. in several articles, it is documented that norwegians have greater trust in the public sector than the countries in other parts of europe (Ruzitš, 2021; sivesind etal., 2013). this affects students’ attitudes and career choices. Poland is much more family-oriented than norway. there are more traditional values. catholicism has a significant influence. hence, religion and the church have a more substantial influence in Poland than in norway (Botvar et al., 2019). the distinction between women and men is more pronounced than in norway (Valved etal., 2021). Furthermore, it bears the marks of many years of communism and a relatively low standard of living. there has been significant engagement in creating and contributing to higher prosperity and strengthening the private sector. isotalo (2014) suggests empowerment is a crucial feature in the workplace in norway; employees are expected to take responsibility and demonstrate initiative. trust is broadly important in norwegian society, including the workplace, where there is often a flat organizational structure based on democratic principles. Performance in norway tends to be evaluated on an individual basis, whereas in Poland, one’s family background can significantly influence one’s career. in Poland, the culture places a high value on ascription, meaning that the use of titles is very important. Within the context of motivation, acquiring a new title in Poland might have a more positive impact than receiving higher wages. according to the World Bank (2024), there is a significant difference in gDP per capita between norway and Poland. norway has traditionally had a high gDP per capita due to its rich oil and gas resources, as well as a generally high standard of living and well-developed welfare system. although the gap has somewhat decreased, gDP per capita is still many times higher in norway than in Poland. this difference can also influence students’ job expectations in the two countries. in norway, students can expect higher wages and better working conditions due to the generally high standard of living and cOgent BUsiness & ManageMent 3 well-developed welfare system. On the other hand, higher economic growth in Poland compared to norway will create optimism and opportunities for students. it is uncertain how the economic and cultural differences between norway and Poland affect students’ job preferences. The Big Five personality traits and job preferences the Big Five personality taxonomy has been widely used worldwide among researchers (Mayfield et al., 2008), and it is the most common method for measure personality traits. the design contains five factors: emotional stability, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and consciousness (see table 1). the Big Five have been shown to have validity across national borders (Mccrae & costa Jr, 1994; Badura et al., 2018), but several researchers have pointed out that cultural differences and attitudes influence the estimates (grajzel et al., 2023). although some tendencies are quite universal and cross-national borders, this explain why there are national differences (leung, 2008). there is an extensive body of literature about career and job choices among business and management students. generally, interests guide students towards a career path, and further engagement in related activities reinforces this choice (lent et al., 1994). Other factors, such as employment availability and earnings, also influence students’ career decisions. Differences in nationality and environmental factors affect business students’ attitudes towards pursuing careers in fields such as insurance (acharyya & secchi, 2015). Research on students in austria has found that career advancement and salary are the two most crucial predictors for job pursuit intentions (Petry et al., 2022). Boakye etal. (2023) suggested that work-life balance is a good predictor for job satisfaction and a good personal life. numerous authors have reported cultural differences among students concerning career decisions. Mau (2000) identified a significant gap between the attitudes of taiwanese and american students. in addition to physical and social factors, students’ attitudes towards career choices are influenced by labour market conditions and the economic situation (Vondracek & Porfeli, 2008). in their comparative analysis of business students from germany, china and the United states, hofstede and Mccrae (2004) identified commonalities in career decisiveness and personality traits across the three countries. however, they observed variations in the significance and impact of these traits, with some factors proving insignificant in certain contexts. this suggests a correlation between personality traits and national culture, leading to differences in career planning among students across borders. leung (2008) has emphasized the importance of recognizing cultural distinctions through the lens of personality traits and has advocated for the application of the Big Five personality traits for this purpose. this approach allows for a deeper understanding of how cultural factors influence individual behaviours and preferences, particularly in the realm of career decision-making. Furthermore, Kuśnierz et al. (2020) documented differing academic orientations among students in Poland and Ukraine, shedding light on these distinctions through the application of the Big Five personality traits. their research highlights the utility of personality trait analysis in discerning variations in educational approaches and attitudes within different cultural contexts. By comparing business students from germany, china and the United states, hofstede and Mccrae (2004) identified similarities between career decisiveness and personality traits for all three countries, but with variations in impact and level of significance. some factors were not significant in all three countries, which indicates a connection between personality traits and national culture. consequently, career planning among students differs across national borders. leung (2008) has suggested that identifying Table 1. Big Five personality traits. Personality trait Description emotional stability (opposite of neuroticism) Does not experience anxiety, depression, etc. extraversion Persons who are talkative, comfortable with large groups and prefer social activities openness individuals who are open to new ideas, creative and curious agreeableness Persons who are sympathetic and like to help others Consciousness individuals who like order and self-discipline, and are dutiful and target oriented Source: Costa and McCrea (1992). 4 l. OPstaD etal. cultural differences using personality traits is essential and recommended applying the Big Five personality traits for this purpose. Kuśnierz et al. (2020) document that there are different academic presentations among students in Poland and Ukraine, illuminated by the use of Big Five personality traits. Big five personality traits and personal development the Big Five taxonomy appears to be a useful instrument for predicting personal development (Preetha & Deepa, 2017). however, variations in the findings may be attributed to other explanatory variables, such as structure, study field, subjects, assessments, learning behaviour, region, country and culture, all of which can affect the results. Previous findings have suggested that conscientiousness is a reliable predictor of job development (Kranefeld & Blickle, 2021). individuals with high conscientiousness scores are well-organized, responsible and hard-working. lingappa et al. (2020) reported a positive association between employees’ motivation to learn and conscientiousness. the relationship between openness and development varies (connelly et al., 2014). Openness is a valuable trait for jobs requiring creativity and development skills (Opstad, 2021a). the analysis indicates following hypotheses: h1a: there is a positive relationship between consciousness and personal development. h1b: there is a positive relationship between openness and personal development. Big Five personality traits and benefit for society agreeableness is closely related to socially oriented jobs and the social aspect of leadership (cogliser et al., 2012). the qualities of agreeableness fit well in work teams that emphasize good cooperation and trust. Research by Weinschenk (2014) shows a positive correlation between agreeableness and civic responsibility. individuals exhibiting high levels of this trait typically display a pro-social or communal outlook, characterized by altruism, trust and a propensity for cooperation. hypothesis h2: there is a positive association between high scores on agreeableness and benefit for society. Big Five personality traits and prestige and salaries extraverted individuals are sociable and talkative, which is advantageous for doing business (sahinidis et al., 2020; sui et al., 2021). seibert and Kraimer (2001) suggested that extraversion there is a positive connection between extraverted individuals and factors like promotion and salaries (Wilmot etal., 2019). this is in line with the mega-analysis of alderotti et al. (2023). these authors studied 63 published articles about the link between personality traits and salary, following conclusions were drawn: there is strong evidence of a positive correlation between salary and the factors consciousness, openness, emotional stability and a negative correlation with agreeableness. individuals who score high on consciousness are goal-oriented and invest in education, which positively impacts their salary. openness is associated with intellect, providing many opportunities within the job market, potentially leading to high salaries. individuals with a high degree of openness may find conventional jobs boring and demotivating (schwaba etal., 2018). this could explain the negative correlation between openness and promotion (ng etal., 2005). however, high openness may be a factor linked to students who prefer pursuing careers in more challenging and demanding areas (Kabir etal., 2014). teng (2008) documents a positive association between the dimension of extraversion and expectations for favourable working conditions (salary, work environment, career opportunities, etc.) among students aspiring to work in hospitals. also, individuals with high scores on emotional stability can expect to achieve good salaries. there might be a negative correlation with agreeableness because individuals with such traits prioritize factors other than salary. however, the authors also point out that there is variation in link between the variables depending on the profession. nevertheless, the following hypotheses are postulated: cOgent BUsiness & ManageMent 5 h3a: consciousness is positively correlated with prestige and salaries. h3b: extraversion is positively correlated with prestige and salaries. h3c: Openness is positively correlated with prestige and salaries. h3d: emotional stability is positively correlated with prestige and salaries. h3e: agreeableness is negatively correlated with prestige and salaries. Big Five personality traits and suits skills the research presents a mixed picture regarding potential correlations. several authors report a positive link between conscientiousness and thriving at work (ahmed et al., 2017; hennekam, 2017; liu et al., 2021). For Openness, neither hennekam nor liu etal. found any connection with this factor. Furnham etal. (2005) took a different approach, examining various aspects that capture the use of skills at work. By running a regression model, they concluded that only openness was related to this dimension. choi and lee (2014) focused on work happiness and found it to be positively correlated with emotional stability and extraversion. none of the mentioned authors have demonstrated any effect related to the agreeableness factor. since the research does not show any systematic pattern regarding this dimension, we have not posited any hypotheses. Big Five personality traits and teamwork it may not come as a surprise that one factor stands out concerning teamwork. several authors highlight the clear connection between teamwork and agreeableness (Jolić Marjanović et al., 2023; tasa et al., 2011). the same pattern emerges concerning project work (tang, 2021). tang emphasizes that extroverted students enjoy engaging in projects and group work however, it’s also emphasized that the dimension of conscientiousness is positively associated with working together in teams (Jolić Marjanović et al., 2023; Kickul & neuman, 2000). individuals with such qualities positively contribute to effective teamwork, whether it’s during studies or in the workplace. another factor that may also be positively related to this type of work is emotional stability (Brown etal., 2017). Based on the literature review, the following hypothesis is proposed: h4a: there is a positive relationship between agreeableness and teamwork. h4b: there is a positive link between extraversion and teamwork. Big Five personality traits and job variation individuals scoring high on openness are naturally curious and thrive on experimentation. this inclination manifests in their career choices, where they seek roles that offer stimulation and diversity. consequently, there exists a positive correlation between openness and work drive (lounsbury et al., 2003). they are eager to explore new fields and engage in a variety of activities (Wille etal., 2014). this propensity often leads to less job stability, prompting frequent job changes as they seek novel and engaging experiences (nieß & Zacher, 2015). consequently, such individuals typically seek diversity in their work tasks (Bipp, 2010). For the other elements of the Big Five, research shows no clear correlations. hence, h5: there is a positive association between openness and job variation. Big Five personality traits and job security according to Wu etal. (2020), job insecurity is negatively related to conscientiousness, neuroticism and agreeableness. For people with high scores in agreeableness, neuroticism and conscientiousness, having 6 l. OPstaD etal. a secure job is crucial, which leads to higher motivation and less uncertainty. Job security can influence engagement and motivation. it can make it easier to plan and achieve goals, which will only have a positive effect on individuals with high levels of consciousness. Furthermore, it can create a better social climate and lead to less effort among individuals who score high on agreeableness. a secure job reduces stress and contributes to lower levels of nervousness, implying a positive impact on emotional stability. however, it’s not clear how higher job security affects openness and extroversion. Many indicators suggest that individuals focusing on factors other than job security might not show a significant correlation, or even a negative one, with job security. Based on the analysis, three hypotheses are presented: h6a: consciousness is positively related to job security. h6b: agreeableness is positively related to job security. h6c: emotional stability is positively related to job security. Big Five personality traits and work-life balance several articles have examined the link between personality traits and work-life balance. akanni and Oduaran (2017) concluded that individuals with high scores on agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience also placed great importance on work-life balance. People with such traits prioritize finding solutions that ensure a good balance between work and leisure time. these findings were confirmed by others (naeem etal., 2022; Wickraniaaratchi & Perera, 2016). these authors also suggested that extraversion and emotional stability are positively related to this dimension. according to these publications, all factors in the Big Five personality traits may be positively related to a good balance of work and leisure time. however, empirical results provide a clearer picture. Devi and Rani (2012) found a significant correlation only between agreeableness and work-life balance. Based on these results, this study is limited to examining only the factor that appears to have the greatest effect: h7: agreeableness is positively associated with work-life balance. Gender and careers Previous research suggests that there are gender differences among business students. haski-leventhal et al. (2017) proposed that female students have higher ethical standards, are more socially responsible and are more willing to help others. Women tend to prefer working with people and tend to be motivated by altruism (su et al., 2009). Opstad (2021b) suggested that female students, to a greater extent than male students, prefer higher job security in exchange for lower wages. this trade-off may be due to women having a lower willingness to take risks (Yukongdi & lopa, 2017). external factors, such as family capital assimilation, also influence the choice of study and career pursuits for both genders. Women and men tend to apply for different jobs, with women leaning more towards managerial roles over finance and consulting positions (Petrongolo & Ronchi, 2020). a possible explanation for this finding is that women value work-life balance more and have a lower identification with traditionally masculine jobs (Barbulescu & Bidwell, 2013). Roche (2013) found similar implications when examining the earnings and returns to education in self-employment between genders, discovering that women earn less than men and have lower returns to education; however, this difference is driven by women earning less in traditionally female occupations, while women who choose to work in male-dominated fields have returns similar to those of men. this suggests that social and environmental factors that influence women’s choices to pursue traditional female occupations are the primary drivers of gender differences. When examining business students, a traditionally male-dominated educational path, one would expect women who have already self-selected away from traditional female choices to have career expectations like those of men. this results in the following hypothesis. cOgent BUsiness & ManageMent 7 h8: Female students prioritize job security, work-life balance and contribution to society to a greater extent compared to male students. it is well-documented with many published articles concluding that there is a significant gender difference in the workplace. Women place more emphasis on contributing to society, job security and being able to balance work and leisure (toffoletti & starr, 2016; sharabi & harpaz, 2013). Methodology and data the purpose of the article is to compare how students in norway and Poland assess various aspects of career and job choices. the analysis is primarily based on a linear regression model where job preference is the endogenous variable, and gender and personality traits are the explanatory variables. Participants. a total of 325 business students from Poland (N = 178) and norway (N = 147) participated in this study. three universities were chosen, one from Poland (Krakow) and two from norway (from the west and middle parts of the country). two large and central universities in norway and Poland were selected. since there were more observations from Poland than from norway, we also chose to include a smaller university from norway. this study is limited to examining an education programme that is similar across borders and is popular. this makes the comparison easier. the data from norway were collected during 2021 and in Poland during 2022. students were asked to answer a questionnaire distributed on paper in compulsory subjects at the two business schools. Due to cOViD-19, fewer students were present on campus, so the response rate was quite low (around 50%) and was not a random selection. answering the questions was voluntary. Potential data bias might influence the findings. We note, among other things, that there were more male students in the sample (58%) than in the cohort population (about 50%). it is uncertain how this has affected the result. nevertheless, we believe that the data collected provide a picture of the attitudes among norwegian business students. Methods. the questions were inspired by previously published articles (easterling & smith, 2008; granitz etal., 2014; Redmond & Mcguinness, 2019; sui et al., 2021). While this has been a reliable source of inspiration, we have also chosen to formulate some of our own questions. the dependent variables were the different dimensions related to choice of future job. exploratory factor analysis was applied. the creation of the factor analysis was founded on the following principles (adelson & Mccoach, 2011): (1) the coefficient for each item was .4 or more; (2) the coefficient for non-relevant items was not higher than .3; (3) the difference between relevant and non-relevant factors was higher than t .2; (4) the value if cronbach’s alpha is at least .70. the results of the factor analysis are presented in table 2. a total of six dimensions were included in the factor analysis, with the number of items ranging from two to six. although one item had a loading lower than .4 associated with the dimension benefit society, we have chosen to include it, because it is a key factor (workplace is characterized by a high degree of idealism). the reliability analyses have acceptable values (cronbach’s alpha). the analysis also included two factors with only one item, namely, work-life balance and job security. table 3 presents the factors included in the regression analysis. note that there are quite high values for some factors, such as agreeableness, which has an average value of 5.29 (out of a maximum of 7). a short version of the Big Five was used, which has been translated into the national language (engvik & clausen, 2011). Because this method is well established, a separate factor analysis is not provided. this categorization of job preferences is employed to examine all hypotheses. to address the impact of personality traits, a linear regression model is utilized (tables 6a–6d). to analyse the gender effect, a comparison of means and t-tests (table 5) has also been employed. Findings table 4 shows that there are differences between the countries regarding some factors. norway receives a significantly higher value for benefit for society and significantly lower for job security and work-life balance. this overlooks the fact that there is a higher percentage of women included in the sample for Poland compared to norway. if this were considered, the effect on the benefit for society would be greater, albeit lower for the other two factors (see table 5). 14 l. OPstaD etal. Conclusion this article focused on the influences on career choices for business students in norway and Poland, using the Big Five personality traits. For some of the factors, the same effects were found for both countries, such as a positive connection between openness and prestige and salaries, between extraversion and teamwork and between agreeableness and teamwork. however, there were examples in which there was a significant correlation for students in only one country. For instance, Poland had a negative correlation between openness and job variation, extraversion and job security and agreeableness and benefit for society, while norwegian students reported a positive link between agreeableness and job security. there may be various reasons for the different results when comparing the connection to the Big Five across national borders, as well as cultural, historical and social differences, including different conditions in the labour market. this study confirmed that there are still gender differences, which is in line with previous results. For example, this article showed that women place greater emphasis on benefit for society and job security. the results of this study would be of interest in terms of the design and planning of the future labour market for business students in a european context. this study shows that there are geographical differences concerning job preferences and the impact of gender and personality traits. Few such studies have been conducted in norway. Further research is needed to find reasons why in norway, a weaker link was found between job preferences and personality traits than what is presented in the international literature. Further research should delve deeper into explaining how cultural factors come into play. there is every reason to study further why Polish female business students are more concerned about salary than their male counterparts. Disclosure statement no potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Funding no external finding. About the authors Leiv Opstad is a professor of economics at the norwegian University of science and technology, Business school. he has written several textbooks and has conducted research on topics related to education and microeconomics. Gurid Karevoll is currently an assistant professor working at Western norway University of applied sciences, at hVl Business school. currently she is pursuing a PhD at Koszalin University of technology in economics and Finance. she is also currently engaged in teaching economic courses and is conducting research in regional development. Dagmara Lewicka is a professor at the Department of Business Management, agh University of science and technology in Krakow, Poland. she has extensive teaching experience and has published articles in various fields, including trust in different relationships. Torbjørn Årethun is professor in economics at hVl (Western norway University of applied sciences), campus sogndal. his recent research has been in entrepreneurial intentions and in regional development. 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Gender, Poland Dimension Males Females Difference Personal development 5.37 5.72 −.36*** (.95) (.86) (.14) Benefit society 3.80 4.14 −.34** (1.04) (.95) (.16) Prestige 4.86 5.17 −.30** (.97) (.98) (.15) skills 5.68 6.14 −.46*** (.80) (.71) (.15) team 4.36 4.49 −.13 (1.26) (1.28) (.20) Variation 5.18 5.32 .14 (1.08) (1.05) (.16) good work-life/leisure balance 6.00 6.05 −.045 (1.17) (1.09) (.17) Job-security 5.18 5.68 −.50*** (1.28) (1.06) (.18) **p < .05; ***p < .01.