The role of technical progress, professionalization and Christian religion in occupational gender segregation: a cross-national analysis

Abstract

Studies have linked cross-national variations in occupational gender segregation with various economic, social and normative characteristics of countries. This study contributes to the research on the role of normative or ‘cultural’ characteristics by examining the influence of the level of technical progress, professionalization and Christian religion on cross-national variations in occupational gender segregation. The analysis is based on a sample of 33 countries. Variations in gender distribution are assessed using a reliable measure of occupational segregation, marginal matching. The analysis uses recent survey data (collected between 2002 and 2006) and a differentiated occupational classification scheme at the ISCO-88 3-digit level. Controlling for other confounding influences, the study finds higher occupational segregation of sexes in countries with higher levels of technical progress and in countries where Catholicism or Protestantism is a dominant religion.