Women City Leaders and Postmaterialist Values: Gender Differences in Economic Development Priorities

Abstract

We investigate gender-associated differences in the attitudes of city leaders regarding local economic development priorities. In so doing, we test the thesis that the economic development priorities of women city leaders will reflect postmaterialist values; in other words, women city leaders will place more of an emphasis on quality-of-life issues than do men. We employ results of a survey of more than 150 city leaders in Texas. Our findings offer support for our postmaterialist thesis and indicate that while women differ little from men in terms of traditional economic development considerations, such as the importance of job creation and revenue generation, women more than men also consider the influence of economic development efforts on a community's environment and aesthetics.