Race, gender, and public-sector work: Prioritizing occupational values as a labor market privilege

This paper examines the role of occupational values in job choice. Using public service motivation (PSM), a value orientation associated with public workers, this analysis predicts public sector employment using a mixed-methods approach: a quantitative analysis of the 2006 General Social Survey and a qualitative analysis of 87 semi-structured interviews with state government workers in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Oregon. The results indicate variation within the public employee population in the effect of PSM on choosing to work in the public sector. They also suggest that prioritizing values in occupational choice may be a luxury, and assuming shared occupational values lacks consideration of the underlying rationales some individuals use when choosing a job.