The impact of work-related values and work control on the career satisfaction of female freelancers

Pascale Peters (), Rob Blomme, Ward Jager and Beatrice Heijden
Additional contact information
Pascale Peters: Nyenrode Business Universiteit
Rob Blomme: Nyenrode Business Universiteit
Ward Jager: Radboud University, Institute for Management Research
Beatrice Heijden: Radboud University, Institute for Management Research

Small Business Economics, 2020, vol. 55, issue 2, No 14, 493-506

Abstract: Abstract Using the job demands-resources theory incorporating a job-crafting perspective to develop a set of hypotheses, this study contributes to the self-employment and freelancing literature by examining whether female freelancers use their agency to mobilize their personal resources (i.e. work-related values) to craft their work resources (i.e. work–control indicators: work autonomy and time-spatial flexibility) to achieve more career satisfaction. Our structural partial least squares model (N = 203) shows that the work-related value ‘intrinsically rewarding work’ prompts two motivational processes that affect career satisfaction: one running directly to ‘career satisfaction’ and one through ‘work autonomy’. Although the value ‘work–life balance’ is positively associated with greater ‘time-spatial flexibility’, this does not affect career satisfaction. Moreover, we find negative associations between the value ‘financial security’, on the one hand, and the two work resources, on the other hand. Hence, the value financial security is negatively related to work autonomy towards career satisfaction. We conclude that female freelancers’ multiple, oftentimes blended values compete with one another, implying that achieving meaningful work, work–life balance and financial independence simultaneously is difficult in female freelancers’ careers. We discuss the study’s implications for future research and advocate labour–market stakeholders (e.g. freelancers, freelancers’ networks, career coaches, temporary work agencies, unions, local and national governments, educational institutions and public and private organizations) to partner in developing value-based career strategies and policies that account for less linear career paths in increasingly flexible and individualized markets and truly support (female) workers developing portfolios that better match with their multiple work-related values on a long-term basis.

Keywords: Working conditions; Work related values; Career satisfaction; Women entrepreneurs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B54 C30 D01 J22 L26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-019-00247-5 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:55:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-019-00247-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... 29/journal/11187/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s11187-019-00247-5

Access Statistics for this article

Small Business Economics is currently edited by Zoltan J. Acs and David B. Audretsch

More articles in Small Business Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().