Motivation to manage: A comparative study of male and female library & information science students in the United States of America, India, Singapore, and Japan

Abstract

This study compared the managerial motivations of library and information science (LIS) students in the United States of America with LIS students in India. The students responded to a questionnaire containing 41 statements on managerial motivation. These statements were divided into 10 categories: task orientation, fear of success, perseverance, reaction to success/failure, future orientation, competitiveness, independence, rigidity, social needs and acceptance of women as managers. Demographic factors such as educational attainment, age, marital status, mobility etc. were also included and compared. Respondents consisted of 665 students from 11 southeastern universities in the United States, 814 students from 23 universities in India, 73 from Singapore, and three from Japan. Fifty percent of Indian and Singaporean students were males; only 20% of the USA respondents were males; and from Japan there were one male and two females. A majority of the Indian, American, Singaporean and Japanese LIS students were motivated to achieve the objectives they set for themselves and were future oriented. They were aggressive in setting their goals and expected that task orientation and perseverance would enable them to accomplish those objectives. The agreement percentages were close on task orientation, perseverance, future orientation, and competitiveness, between countries and by sexes. The differences between the sexes were found on factors like women as managers, reaction to success or failure, fear of failure, and social acceptance. Prevalent culture determines the gender roles in an organization. Theories of management & motivation work best when they are modified according to the social norms.