Gender-integrated Occupations Research Articles

Gender composition in occupations and branches and medically certified sick leave: a prospective population study

ObjectiveTo investigate whether gender-segregated occupations and branches are associated with future medically certified sick leave for women and men.MethodsAll gainfully employed residents in Sweden in December 31st 2014 aged 16–69 years (n = 4 473 964) were identified in national registers. Subjects working in segregated (61–90%) and extremely segregated (> 90%) occupations and branches were evaluated v/s subjects in gender-integrated occupations and branches (40–60%). Combinations of segregation by occupation and branch were also investigated. Two-year prospective medically certified sick leaves (> 14 days) were evaluated using logistic regression with odds ratios recalculated to relative risks (RR), adjusted for work, demographic and health related factors.ResultsThe sick leave risk was higher for those working in extremely female-dominated occupations (women RR 1.06 and men RR 1.13), and in extremely female-dominated branches (women RR 1.09 and men RR 1.12), and for men in extremely male-dominated branches (RR 1.04). The sick leave risk was also higher for both women and men in female-dominated occupations regardless of the gender segregation in the branch they were working in. However, the differences in sick leave risks associated with gender segregation were considerably smaller than the differences between occupations and branches in general.ConclusionsGender segregation in occupations and branches play a role for sick leave among women and men, especially within extremely female-dominated occupations and branches. However, gender segregation appears to be subordinate to particular occupational hazards faced in diverse occupations and branches.

Sickness absence and disability pension before and after first childbirth and in nulliparous women by numerical gender segregation of occupations: A Swedish population-based longitudinal cohort study.

BackgroundPregnancy is associated with a temporarily increased sickness absence (SA) risk. This association may vary by the level of occupational gender segregation; however, knowledge in this area is limited. We studied whether trends in SA and disability pension (DP) in the years before and after first childbirth among women with one or more childbirths and with no childbirth during the study period varied by occupational gender segregation.MethodsWe conducted a population-based register study involving nulliparous women aged 18–39 years, living in Sweden in 2002–2004 (n = 364,411). We classified participants in three childbirth groups as: (1) no childbirth in 2005 or in the next 3.75 years, (2) first childbirth in 2005 and no births in the subsequent 3.75 years, and (3) first childbirth in 2005 and at least one additional birth in the subsequent 3.75 years, and into five categories based on the rate of women in their occupations. We compared crude and standardized mean annual net SA and DP days during the three years before and the three years after 2005 across the childbirth and occupational gender segregation categories.ResultsWomen in extremely male-dominated occupations had or tended to have somewhat higher mean combined SA and DP days than women in gender-integrated occupations; women in female-dominated occupations had comparable or tended to have slightly higher mean SA and DP days than women in gender-integrated occupations. Except for the year before the first childbirth, women who gave birth, especially those who gave several births, had generally a lower mean combined standardized SA and DP days than nulliparous women. We found no substantial differences in trends in SA and DP around the time of first childbirth according to occupational gender segregation.ConclusionsTrends in SA and DP around the time of first childbirth did not vary by occupational gender segregation.

Flexible time – but is the time owned? Family friendly and family unfriendly work arrangements, occupational gender composition and wages: a test of the mother-friendly job hypothesis in Sweden

ABSTRACT The relationship between gender, working conditions, occupational gender composition and wages is investigated to test the support for the mother-friendly job hypothesis in the family-friendly welfare state of Sweden. The Swedish level-of-living survey (LNU2010) is used to measure two dimensions of working conditions: flexibility and time-consuming work. The findings do not support the notion that women’s work is more family-friendly as neither women in general nor mothers have more flexibility than men. Furthermore, femaledominated occupations have, in comparison with other occupations, less flexible work arrangements. Instead, gender-integrated occupations have the most flexible work arrangement. Time-consuming work is also most common in gender integrated occupations. Flexibility and timeconsuming work largely go hand in hand and are both positively associated with wages and also more common in the service class. Finally, women are not economically compensated for their job characteristics in the same extent as men, especially not for their time-consuming work which partially account for the gender wage gap. Taken together the findings counters the notion that the remaining gender wage gap largely is due to women avoiding time consuming work or choosing flexibility. Instead it seems like women are compensated less regardless of their job characteristics.

Gender equality in sickness absence tolerance: Attitudes and norms of sickness absence are not different for men and women.

Previous research offers limited understanding as to why sickness absence is higher among women than among men, but attitudes and norms have been suggested as plausible explanations of this gender gap. The purpose of the present study is to examine whether the gender gap in sickness absence reflects gender differences in sickness absence attitudes or gendered norms of sickness absence in society. The analyses are based on data from a factorial survey experiment covering 1,800 male and female employed respondents in Norway in 2016. Each participant was asked to evaluate whether sick leave would be reasonable in six unique, hypothetical sickness absence scenarios (i.e. vignettes) in which occupation, gender and reason for sick leave varied. Sick leave judgments were regressed on respondent gender and vignette gender using binary logistic regressions across three cut points. Overall, we did not find a substantial gender difference in either attitudes towards sickness absence or sickness absence norms. However, further analyses indicated more tolerant social norms of sickness absence for employees in gender-dominated occupations than for employees in gender-integrated occupations. This pattern could be a result of the type of work attributed to these occupations rather than their gender composition. Contrary to popular belief, we conclude that widely held attitudes and norms of sickness absence are unlikely to be drivers of the gender gap in sickness absence. The results can be useful for policies and interventions aimed at safeguarding gender equality in the labour market.

Gender segregation of occupations and sustainable employment: A prospective population-based cohort study.

Although the labour market is characterized by a strong numerical gender segregation of occupations, there is little knowledge about the associations of this with the future labour market situation for an individual person. This study aimed to elucidate whether working in a gender-segregated or gender-integrated occupation is associated with future labour market attachment and sickness absence or disability pensions among women and men. We used a population-based prospective cohort study with univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses stratified by gender, including all people living in Sweden aged 20-56 years and in paid work in 2003 ( n=3,239,989). They were followed up eight years later with regard to employment status, sickness absence and disability pension. Women and men employed in extremely female-dominated occupations in 2003 had the highest employment levels and the lowest unemployment levels at follow up in 2011. When adjusting for age, level of education and sector of employment, the highest odds ratios (ORs) for not being employed in 2011 were found for women working in extremely male-dominated occupations in 2003 (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.21-1.33) and for men in female-dominated occupations (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.39-1.45) relative to those in gender-integrated occupations. Women in extremely male-dominated occupations had the highest ORs for sickness absence or the receipt of a disability pension at follow up (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.17-1.36) and men in female-dominated occupations had the highest OR 1.15 (95% CI 1.11-1.20). For both women and men, the gender composition of the occupation they work in seems to be of importance for their future labour market attachment and sickness absence or receipt of a disability pension.

Gender and occupational wage gaps in Romania: from planned equality to market inequality?

In Romania, the communist regime promoted an official policy of gender equality for more than 40 years, providing equal access to education and employment and restricting pay differentiation based on gender. After its fall in December 1989, the promotion of equal opportunities and treatment for men and women did not constitute a priority for any governments of the 1990s. This paper analyzes both gender and occupational wage gaps before and during the first years of the transition to a market economy and finds that the communist institutions did succeed in eliminating the gender wage differences in female- and male-dominated occupations but not in gender-integrated occupations. During both regimes, wage differences were, in general, much higher among workers of the same gender working in different occupations than between men and women working in the same occupational group, and women experienced a larger variation in occupational wage differentials than men. JEL codes: J24; J31; J71; J78; P26; P27

Discrimination of the Second Generation: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Norway

A major question in labour market research is the extent to which discrimination in employments causes the disadvantages experienced by children of immigrants. This article contributes to the debate by utilising a correspondence test study in which pairs of equivalent resumes and cover letters—one with a Pakistani name and one with a Norwegian name—were sent in response to 900 job openings in the greater Oslo area. The results show that applicants with Norwegian names on average are 25 % more likely to receive a call back for a job interview than equally qualified applicants with Pakistani names. More refined analyses demonstrate that the effect of ethnic background on employment probabilities is larger among men than women and larger in the private sector than in the public sector, and important variations among the occupations included in the study are revealed. In an effort to separate the potentially conflating effects of gender and sector, all applications to gender-segregated occupations were removed from the analyses. Interestingly, the gender differences disappear when exclusively analysing discrimination in gender-integrated occupations by sector. In gender-integrated occupations in the private sector, the gender difference in fact is reversed, indicating that women with minority background are treated less favourably than are minority men in the private sector. These results suggest that the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and sector should be scrutinised more carefully in future field experiments.

Devaluation, crowding or skill specificity? Exploring the mechanisms behind the lower wages in female professions

A conspicuous finding in research on the gender wage gap is that wages are related to the percentage females in an occupation (percent F). Three mechanisms have been suggested to explain this relationship: a devaluation of women’s work, a crowding of women into a limited number of occupations, and a female disadvantage in the accumulation of specific human capital.In this analysis, based on data from the Swedish Level of Living Survey of 2000 (n=2915), we distinguish between these mechanisms using measures of devaluation (Treiman’s prestige scale), crowding (employee dependence on current employer) and specific human capital (on-the-job training).The results show that all the indicators are related to percent F, but not in a linear fashion, and that the percent F-effect on wages is overstated and misspecified. Female-dominated occupations stand out with lower wages than both male-dominated and gender-integrated occupations and this is not explained by any of our measures. Thus, if the hypotheses on segregation and wages should be sustained, they must be further specified and new measures must be found to prove their worth.

Sickness absence due to musculoskeletal diagnoses: association with occupational gender segregation.

Musculoskeletal disorders represent a considerable public health problem and the most common diagnoses behind sickness absence and disability pensions. However, little is known about how sickness absence with these diagnoses varies with the strong gender segregation of the labour market. A study was undertaken to investigate the association between musculoskeletal-related sickness absence and occupational gender segregation. The study was population based, and included all new sick-leave spells exceeding seven days due to musculoskeletal diagnoses, comprising neckl shoulder pain, low back pain, and osteoarthritis in Ostergötland county, Sweden, which has 393,000 inhabitants (5%, of the national population). The participants were all sick-leave insured employed persons in Ostergötland (n = 182,663) in 1985. Cumulative incidence of musculoskeletal-related sickness absence (>7 days) was higher for women (7.5%, 95% confidence interval [C.I.] 7.3-7.7) than for men, (5.8%, C.I. 5.6-5.9), and the same was true for the mean number of sick-leave days (women 81, C.I. 78-83; men 65, C.I. 63-68). Grouping occupations according to degree of numerical gender segregation revealed the highest incidence and duration of sickness absence for women in male-dominated occupations. For both genders, the lowest cumulative incidence and duration occurred in gender-integrated occupations. Our results indicate a strong association between occupational gender segregation and musculoskeletal-related sickness absence. Further studies are needed to elucidate gender segregation of the labour market in relation to health and rehabilitation measures.

Pregnancy-related sickness absence among employed women in a Swedish county.

The objective of this study was to analyze the variation of pregnancy-related sickness absence among employed women according to age, occupation, and degree of male-female domination within occupations. Data from a prospective study of all new sick-leave spells exceeding 7 d in 1985 and 1986 in the county of Ostergötland, Sweden, were related to the population at risk, through the Swedish Medical Birth Register. The subjects included in the analysis were all 7000 employed women that gave birth in 1985 and 1986, of which some 3000 were sick-listed at least once with pregnancy-related diagnoses. There was little difference in the pregnancy-related sickness absence between the age groups. The age-standardized rate for sick leaves involving pregnancy-related diagnoses differed substantially between occupations. Women in the metal industry had the highest rates; those employed in administration, banking, and insurance had the lowest. White-collar occupations generally had lower rates and blue-collar occupations higher rates, with some exceptions (eg, in saw mills, farming, and the chemical industry). Gender-integrated occupations had the lowest sick-leave rate, while extremely male-dominated jobs had the highest. The latter association remained after adjustment for occupational area. There were considerable differences between occupational groups in the rates of sick leaves involving pregnancy-related diagnoses. Some differences were related to physical load of the jobs being done, but not all. It seems important to consider also male-female domination within a job with respect to such sick leaves.

Antecedents and work-related correlates of reported sexual harassment: An empirical investigation of competing hypotheses

This study investigated antecedents and work-related correlates of reported sexual harassment by 365 primarily Caucasian women in male-typed, female-typed, and gender-integrated occupations. Two competing hypotheses on the antecedents of sexual harassment were tested. No support was found for the “contact hypothesis,” which holds that harassment is related to contact with the opposite gender. Partial support was found for the “sex role spillover” model, which holds that harassment is due to the transfer of gender roles to the workplace. No significant differences in reports of sexual harassment were found between women in male-typed, female-typed, and gender-integrated occupations. Within male-typed occupations, blue-collar women reported greater harassment than white-collar women, but were less likely to display assertive reactions to harassment. Investigation of work-related outcomes revealed that sexual harassment was positively related to reports of gender discrimination in promotion and employment practices, and had a negative impact on job satisfaction, particularly among blue-collar women. Theoretical implications of these results are discussed and a revision of the sex role spillover model is presented.

Epidemiology of sickness absence in a Swedish county in 1985, 1986 and 1987. A three year longitudinal study with focus on gender, age and occupation.

In order to get a better epidemiological base for preventive intervention in the county of Ostergötland, Sweden, a comprehensive study of sickness absence was done. During the years 1985, 1986 and 1987, all new periods of sick-leave exceeding seven days were registered with demographic variables. This information was related to data about the total population of Ostergötland. Each year approx. 45,000 persons had approx. 61,000 sickness spells. These figures were stable over the years while the number of sick-leave days increased. Blue-collar occupations had the highest sick-leave rates and the female sick-leave rate was higher in general and much higher in most male-dominated occupations. The male rate was lower within female-dominated areas, except among secretaries and textile workers. Females in extremely male-dominated groups had the highest rates, while both male and female sick-leave rates were lower in more gender-integrated occupations.