Work and work force characteristics in the nonprofit sector.

Increasing proportions of the U .S . work force have been attracted to employment in private nonprofit institutions -organizations which constitute the third sector of the economy.' The popular view is that these persons are attracted by the ideals of selfless service and work fulfillment, and have chosen to avoid the competitiveness of profitmaking firms, and the impersonality of government bureaucracy . But the view also holds that low pay, job pressures, and lack of resources cause these workers to seek employment in other sectors . This study examines such popular views by comparing characteristics of work and the work force in the for-profit, government, and nonprofit sectors, using data from the 1977 Quality of Employment Survey, conducted by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan . Sociologists, psychologists, and economists have treated organization size and technology, employee background and personality, and industry and occupation as the key explanatory factors in their models of the quality of employment . Sector-for-profit, government, or nonprofit-represents an important but neglected facet of the work environment . The nature of an organiza-