CAREERS OF YOUNG WOMEN DURING THE TRANSITIONAL DECADE OF THE 1970s

Abstract

This paper uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Women to explore the careers of young women during the transitional decade of the 1970s. The paper pays particular attention to women in skilled, traditionally male occupations. Contrary to human capital theory predictions, women with high initial labor force attachment entered skilled jobs in the traditionally female sector rather than skilled jobs in the traditionally male sector. The women most likely to enter skilled male jobs were those with low initial labor force attachment who entered skilled jobs later in life. Women experienced mixed success in skilled male jobs. Those who entered skilled male jobs were less likely to make long‐term careers in these jobs than were women who entered skilled non‐male jobs. On the other hand, women who remained in skilled male jobs earned considerably more than did other women. Women's chances of remaining in skilled male jobs from year to year increased over the decade of the 1970s, suggesting that prospects for women in these jobs improved over the decade.