Work life values of future managers: Does country and gender make a difference

The contemporary managerial work place is changing; baby boomers, the globalization and an increased participation of females in the workforce is redefining what value systems future managers' will hold. This paper builds upon the traditional research on work ethics which focused primarily on working individuals. It explores future managers' value systems on life versus work, in a cross national context. Previously validated questionnaires, containing 33 work-life values, were completed by business students in two French-speaking regions of the world: Paris (France) and Quebec (Canada). Factor analysis was employed to examine the underlying value structure of work and life. Five factors emerged, 2 pertaining to work context, 2 to life context and 1 general factor as following: Extrinsic and intrinsic work context, social/society and ego/self life context and creativity. Subsequently, a comparison along these values is made between the two regions. Gender differences were also tested along these values. Results show differences in the value systems of these future managers based on region and gender, despite their common French language. Implications of the finding, within a context of ethics and social responsibility in reference to the stakeholder model is discussed.