Gender and Promotion in Segmented Job Ladder Systems

Abstract

White-collar internal labor markets are typically segmented in various ways. Job ladders, job ladder groupings, and tiers create a complicated set of boundaries that make advancement contingent on such factors as the chances for advancement in a job ladder, the chances to move to other job ladders that offer greater opportunity, and the distribution of preferred statuses that influence promotion outcomes. This paper shows how these contingencies created gender differences in promotion rates in the federal civil service during the middle 1970s. Gender promotions varied by level. The greatest female disadvantage occurred near the boundary between the lowerand upper-tier grades. No gender difference was found in the higher grades, and no zero-order difference existed in the lower grades. Gender differences in grade promotion were largely explained by differences in ladder-specific opportunities. But significant gender differences in promotion from the lowerto the upper-tier remained, even when personal attributes and organizational location were controlled.