Scientists in Organizations: Discrimination Processes in an Internal Labor Market

Abstract

It has been argued that discrimination against women may stem from their location in female-dominated occupations. In order to examine whether men and women working in the same occupation are similarly treated the attention is focused on the scientific enterprise that is considered to be governed by universalistic criteria. Whereas earlier studies of discrimination in science were conducted in academic settings or in the entire labor market, a more recent trend in organizational analysis is followed that emphasizes the significant role of internal labor markets in determining employment practices within large firms. This study, which employs a “one occupation-one firm” design, indicates that female scientists clearly have fewer promotion opportunities than their male counterparts. The article concludes that controlling for organizational position in wage equations produces a downward biased estimated level of wage discrimination. These results suggest that internal labor markets may act as a subtle mechan...