Occupational Sex-Typing Research Articles

Understanding the self-organization of occupational sex segregation with mobility networks

Decades after the beginning of the gender revolution, most women and men still work in sex-typed occupations. This is a primary driver of the gender wage gap. Most research describing the patterns of occupational sex segregation focuses on supposedly innate job characteristics that match gender stereotypical abilities and preferences, such as the use of mathematical skills or social skills, on income and status differences between occupations, and on organizational job characteristics, for example, the need to work long hours. However, beyond such occupational attributes, sex segregation is hypothesized to exhibit emergent patterns that are linked to the interdependent job mobility of women and men, in particular, men selectively leaving feminizing occupations. Developing new tools inspired by statistical network research, and using representative, longitudinal data that contain detailed occupational mobility from the UK between 2000 and 2008, this replacement mechanism is analyzed. It is shown that 19–28% of observed sex segregation is linked to this emergent phenomenon in a statistical model that disentangles the various predictors of the allocation of women and men to different occupations. This makes it the most important predictor of segregation in contrast to concurrently modelled explanations based on occupational characteristics. Data and materials availabilityThe BHPS data and the LFS data are available from the UK Data Service (https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk/). The O*NET data is available from the O*NET homepage (https://www.onetcenter.org/). Software implemented in the environment R and code for data analysis are available upon request from the authors.

“This Gig Is Not for Women”: Gender Stereotyping in Online Hiring

This study examines gender segregation in the context of the so-called gig economy. In particular, it explores the role that stereotypes about male and female occupations play in sorting men and women into different jobs in an online freelance marketplace. The findings suggest that gender stereotypes are particularly salient in online hiring because employers typically contract for short-term, relatively low-value jobs based on limited information about job applicants. These conditions trigger the use of cognitive shortcuts about intrinsic gender characteristics linked to different skills and occupations. The results corroborate that female candidates are less likely to be hired for male-typed jobs (e.g., software development) but more likely to be hired for female-typed jobs (e.g., writing and translation) than equally qualified male candidates. Further, the study investigates three mechanisms predicted to attenuate the female penalty in male-typed jobs. The penalty is found to be self-reinforcing, as it perpetuates gender imbalances in worker activity across job categories that strengthen the sex typing of occupations.

‘This Gig Is Not for Women’: Gender Stereotyping in Online Hiring

This study examines gender segregation in the context of the so-called gig economy. In particular, it explores the role that stereotypes about male and female occupations play in sorting men and women into different jobs in an online freelance marketplace. The findings suggest that gender stereotypes are particularly salient in online hiring because employers typically contract for short-term, relatively low-value jobs based on limited information about job applicants. These conditions trigger the use of cognitive shortcuts about intrinsic gender characteristics linked to different skills and occupations. The results corroborate that female candidates are less likely to be hired for male-typed jobs (e.g., software development) but more likely to be hired for female-typed jobs (e.g., writing and translation) than equally qualified male candidates. Further, the study investigates three mechanisms predicted to attenuate the female penalty in male-typed jobs. The penalty is found to be self-reinforcing, as it perpetuates gender imbalances in worker activity across job categories that strengthen the sex-typing of occupations.

Marginalized by race and place

Purpose – Given South Africa's apartheid history, studies have primarily focused on racial discrimination in employment outcomes, with lesser attention paid to gender and context. The purpose of this paper is to fill an important gap by examining the combined effect of macro- and micro-level factors on occupational sex segregation in post-apartheid South Africa. Intersections by race are also explored. Design/methodology/approach – A multilevel multinomial logistic regression is used to examine the influence of various supply and demand variables on women's placement in white- and blue-collar male-dominated occupations. Data from the 2001 Census and other published sources are used, with women nested in magisterial districts. Findings – Demand-side results indicate that service sector specialization augments differentiation by increasing women's opportunities in both white-collar male- and female-dominated occupations. Contrary to expectations, urban residence does not influence women's, particularly African women's, placement in any male-type positions, although Whites (white-collar) and Coloureds (blue-collar) fare better. Supply side human capital models are supported in general with African women receiving higher returns from education relative to others, although theories of “maternal incompatibility” are partially disproved. Finally, among all racial groups, African women are least likely to be employed in any male-dominated occupations, highlighting their marginalization and sustained discrimination in the labour market. Practical implications – An analysis of women's placement in white- and blue-collar male-dominated occupations by race provides practical information to design equitable work policies by gender and race. Social implications – Sex-typing of occupations has deleterious consequences such as lower security, wage differentials, and fewer prospects for promotion, that in turn increase labour market rigidity, reduce economic efficiency, and bar women from reaching their full potential. Originality/value – Very few empirical studies have examined occupational sex segregation (using detailed three-digit data) in developing countries, including South Africa. Methodologically, the paper uses multilevel techniques to correctly estimate ways in which context influences individual outcomes. Finally, it contributes to the literature on intersectionality by examining how gender and race sustain systems of inequality.

Nurse or Mechanic? The Role of Parental Socialization and Children's Personality in the Formation of Sex-Typed Occupational Aspirations

Boys and girls with sex-typical aspirations are significantly more likely to end up in sex-typical jobs as adults. Preference formation among children is therefore relevant for subsequent occupational outcomes. This study investigates the role of parental socialization and children’s agency in the formation of sex-typed occupational preferences using data for British children aged 11 to 15. We anchor agency in observable psychological attributes associated with children’s capacity to act in the face of constraints. We focus on two such attributes, motivation and self-esteem. Our findings identify two main sources of parental influence: (1) parental sex-typical behaviors, from which children learn which occupations are appropriate for each sex; and (2) parental socio-economic resources, which affect children’s occupational ambition. We find, additionally, that girls with high motivation and both girls and boys with high self-esteem are less likely to aspire to sex-typical occupations, net of parental characteristics. Motivation and self-esteem help girls aim higher in the occupational ladder, which automatically reduces their levels of sex-typicality. For boys, however, self-esteem reduces sex-typicality at all levels of the aspired occupational distribution. This suggests that boys with high self-esteem are better equipped to contradict the existing social norms regarding sex-typical behavior. Implications are discussed.

Portrayals of Women in Transnational Arab Television Drama Series

This content analysis of 15 Arabic and 3 Turkish drama serials on transnational Arab television examined the gender portrayals of characters. The analysis of 743 characters found that women were underrepresented, less likely to have recognizable jobs, and more likely than men to be portrayed in sex-typed occupations, activities, and settings. The analysis also revealed that programs with female writers were significantly less gender stereotypical. Moreover, differences were found among the producing Arab countries in terms of the portrayals of women; conservative countries had more sex-typed portrayals than the more liberal Arab countries, whereas Turkish programs had similar portrayals to Arabic programs produced in the liberal Arab states. The general findings are discussed in comparison to U.S. programming, and in relation to selective exposure, identification with characters, and potential effects on Arab viewers' gender role beliefs.

"A Little Extra Persuasion”: Gender and Craft Unionism in West Virginia’s Glass Industry, 1900–1950s

"A Little Extra Persuasion”: Gender and Craft Unionism in West Virginia’s Glass Industry, 1900–1950s Virginia C. Young On January 22, 1947, a meeting was conducted between the plant management of Fostoria Glass in Moundsville, West Virginia, and the respective factory committees of two of the plant’s labor unions. Local 10 had, for more than fifty years, represented the facility’s skilled male glassworkers who worked in the “hot metal” end of the plant and made the glassware. Local 507, organized in 1936, represented the unskilled and semi-skilled miscellaneous workers, both male and female, who worked in the “cold metal” section of the facility and performed various finishing tasks on the glass. Both Local 10 and 507 were affiliated with the American Flint Glass Workers Union (AFGWU).1 Near the end of the meeting, after resolving several issues, plant management announced plans for a new plant hospital to be “properly equipped with modern first aid equipment and staffed by a competent nurse.” The proposed location for this new plant hospital was the Factory #1 Girls’ Toilet, which had been built during World War II for the numerous women who transferred to the hot metal furnace room to replace enlisted male workers. The hospital, management explained, would benefit all of Fostoria’s employees, but it would also necessitate the transfer of fourteen women who had thus far chosen to remain in hot metal. Additionally, management announced that it counted on Local 507 to provide “a little extra persuasion,” if necessary, to convince any woman who objected to the transfer.2 A glimpse into the experiences of women at Moundsville’s Fostoria Glass provides a valuable standpoint from which to consider the impact of gender in the unionized workplace. First, Fostoria’s story places the glass industry, which has recently begun to receive more attention from historians, alongside other industries as a significant economic force and employer of women.3 Second, pre- and postwar events that transformed gender relations in factories nationwide also had an impact on Fostoria’s [End Page 35] shop floor, thus linking West Virginia’s manufacturing economy to larger national trends. Finally, Fostoria Glass allows us to better understand how prewar conditions affected postwar gender dynamics when we ask why those fourteen women who remained in their hot metal positions needed “a little extra persuasion” to relinquish their jobs. World War II was not the first instance of expanded opportunities for women at Fostoria. For example, despite initially hiring women in the 1890s to perform a very narrow set of tasks, Fostoria quickly expanded women’s jobs in cold metal. Eventually men and women performed many of those same jobs, which blurred the lines meant to distinguish between them. When Local 507 was formed in 1936, those same miscellaneous workers became AFGWU members, finally giving women a share of the union pie and a seemingly equal standing in the eyes of their union brothers. Further, while their role within Local 507 was uncertain at first, their numbers were such that women became an increasingly active group within the union. Thus, the glass ceiling at Fostoria experienced periodic “cracks” in the years prior to World War II and provided women in the plant with a cumulative inclusion into the predominantly male world of craft unionism. Through Fostoria Glass we see how those cracks made it progressively harder to justify and maintain gender divisions in the years after World War II. Over the past few decades scholars have successfully made gender, just like considerations of race and class, a necessary component of our historical understanding of labor unionism and the industrial workplace. Even as they have informed us of the pervasive practice of occupational sex-typing used to segregate women and stymie their opportunities on the shop floor, so too have they debated the impact World War II had on women’s labor activism and the move to end such discriminatory practices. 4 Discussions surrounding whether the war brought permanent or passing change have not discounted the ways in which many women expressed their dissatisfaction with the gendered order long before World War II. However, the prewar years are largely seen as a precursor to the real...

Occupational shifts across sex-type boundaries in the Swedish labour market

This study examines sex differences in employees’ patterns of mobility between occupations of different sex proportions between 2002 and 2003 and how occupational sex segregation in Sweden is influenced by employees’ occupational shifts. The empirical analysis is based on large-scale and nationwide data sets with a panel design. The results show that employees’ occupational shifts strengthen sex segregation across occupations, especially female ones. Moreover, when we compare employees who in 2002 were in occupations with a given sex proportion, employees shift towards more sex-typical occupations relative to employees of the opposite sex, and this is particularly true for women and older employees. The analysis also shows that whereas the outflow from occupations of certain sex proportions is sex-biased, the sex composition of the inflow of other employees is mostly equal in magnitude to the outflow, partly explaining why the level of overall occupational sex segregation remains almost unchanged between these 2 years.

Gender Gap and Segregation in Self-Employment: On the Role of Field of Study and Apprenticeship Training

There are two phenomena in the field of female entrepreneurship that have not yet been adequately explained by previous research, namely (first) the “gender gap” in self-employment and (second) gender-specific occupational and industrial segregation, also in self-employment. The “gender gap” in self-employment refers to the phenomenon that despite increasing absolute numbers of self-employed women in most of the welfare states of Western Europe and North America, the women’s self-employment ratio, referring to the ratio of self-employed women among all working women, remains roughly half that of men’s self-employment ratio (Arum and Muller 2004, Leicht and Strohmeyer 2005). This also holds true for Germany, where the chances to become self-employed are roughly twice as low for women than for men: after all, women comprise only 28% of all self-employed in Germany (Wagner 2005, Lauxen-Ulbrich and Leicht 2002). This arises the question why women are significantly less likely to become entrepreneurs than men. Research speaks of gender-based occupational segregation (or occupational sex segregation), when occupations exist in which the share of workers of one sex is so high that they could be called either “male” or “female” occupations (Jonung 1996, Melkas and Anker 1997). Research argues that the tendency for women in dependent employment to enroll in “sex-typical occupations” is also true for self-employment. Confirming the results obtained for United Kingdom (Hakim 1998), a German study (Lauxen-Ulbrich and Leicht 2002: 49-53) and an Israeli (Kraus 2003:6-7) study show that the most common occupations for selfemployed women still refer to jobs that are person- and service-oriented and are performed either in female-dominated occupations (typically “female jobs” include nurses, salespersons, hairdressers, beauticians, doctor's receptionist etc.) or integrated occupations (lawyers, consultants, economists, etc.). Instead, only a very small proportion of self-employed women (e.g. in Germany every fifth self-employed female, in Israel every tenth self-employed female) perform in male-dominated occupations, which mainly refer to traditional professions, craftsmen, as well as technicians and engineers...

Precursors to the Gender Gap in College Enrollment: Children's Aspirations and Expectations for Their Futures

In light of the increasing gender gap in college enrollment, data from two waves of interviews with 115 elementary and middle school children were examined for developmental and gender differences in participants' aspirations and expectations for their futures. While there were no gender differences in children's educational aspirations or expectations, girls were more likely than boys to aspire to careers that require a college education, more likely to emphasize career advancement in their rationale for attending college, and less likely to choose sex-typed occupations. Implications for professional school counselors are discussed.

Precursors to the Gender Gap in College Enrollment: Children's Aspirations and Expectations for Their Futures

In light of the increasing gender gap in college enrollment, data from two waves of interviews with 115 elementary and middle school children were examined for developmental and gender differences in participants’ aspirations and expectations for their futures. While there were no gender differences in children's educational aspirations or expectations, girls were more likely than boys to aspire to careers that require a college education, more likely to emphasize career advancement in their rationale for attending college, and less likely to choose sex-typed occupations. Implications for professional school counselors are discussed.

Vocational Interests and Career Efficacy Expectations in Relation to Occupational Sex-Typing Beliefs for Eighth Grade Students

Following the recommendations of Lent, Brown and Hackett's Social Cognitive Career Theory (2000), we measured eighth grade boys' and girls' perception of the proportion of men and women employed in occupations and their level of interest and self-efficacy for those occupations. Results indicated that eighth grade boys and girls expressed stronger career interest in and higher self-efficacy for those occupations that they rated as employing more of their own gender. The study highlights how career practitioners can work with adolescents to widen their perceived range of occupational choices.

Vocational Interests and Career Efficacy Expectations in Relation to Occupational Sex-Typing Beliefs for Eighth Grade Students

Following the recommendations of Lent, Brown and Hackett's Social Cognitive Career Theory (2000), we measured eighth grade boys' and girls' perception of the proportion of men and women employed in occupations and their level of interest and self-efficacy for those occupations. Results indicated that eighth grade boys and girls expressed stronger career interest in and higher self-efficacy for those occupations that they rated as employing more of their own gender. The study highlights how career practitioners can work with adolescents to widen their perceived range of occupational choices.

Like-Sex Versus Opposite-Sex Effects in Transmission of Gender Role Ideology from Parents to Adolescents in Israel

The study examined whether transmission of gender role ideology is more prevalent among parents and children of the same sex (like-sex effect) than among parents and children of the opposite sex (opposite-sex effect). Gender role ideology was assessed on the basis of 2 factors: gender role stereotypes and occupational sex-typing. The research sample consisted of 134 fathers, 134 mothers, and 134 Israeli adolescents (equally divided among girls and boys). Moderate correlations (ranging from 0.22 to 0.58) were found between parents and children, which indicate a partial like-sex effect. Specifically, father–son correlations in gender-role attitudes were higher than father–daughter correlations. Regarding occupational sex-typing, the same pattern was found only for attitudes toward masculine occupations. As far as mothers were concerned, no like-sex effect was found for either aspect of gender role ideology. Mothers were found to have the most liberal gender role attitudes, while children expressed less liberal attitudes, and fathers expressed the most traditional attitudes. As far as occupational sex-typing is concerned, mothers expressed the most liberal attitudes, while no significant differences were found between fathers and children. All family members expressed more traditional attitudes toward in-home roles than toward outside roles, and maintained more stereotyped perceptions of masculine tasks than those of feminine tasks.

The Intergenerational Transmission of Occupational Status and Sex-Typing at Children's Labour Market Entry

To what extent do the mother's and father's jobs and occupational sex-typing influence the status and sex-typing of their children's occupation at first entry into the labour market? Referring to a database containing 5027 respondents of two merged Dutch surveys held between 1992 and 1995, this study finds that the effect of the mother's occupational status on her daughter's is significant, but smaller than either the effect of father's status on his son's or his daughter's status. The mother's occupational sex-typing is related to her daughter's occupational sex-typing. The more female sex-typed the daughter's occupation, the lower her occupational status. In the same way, the father's occupational sex-typing is related to his son's occupational sex-typing. While the extension of the classical status attainment models by the mother's occupation and occupational sex-typing leads to interesting and new coefficients, the authors conclude that the more elementary classical model is not invalidated by these new perspectives.

The Impact of Social Background on Gender-role Ideology

The study examines the effects of parental background variables on parent-child differences in sex typing of roles and occupations, using a sample of Israeli fathers and mothers and their adolescent children ( n = 134 in each group). In general, mothers held more liberal attitudes, followed by their children, whereas fathers appeared to be the most conservative. Parents' background variables were found to have some effect on their own attitudes as well as their children's attitudes to gender roles, but no impact on sex typing of occupations was found. Mothers' and fathers' education, as well as the mother's work status, significantly affected the views of both parents and children on the question of gender role. Parents with more education and families with full-time working mothers tended to be more liberal. The mother's place of birth, degree of family's religiosity, and number of children influenced parental attitudes but not those of offspring.

The Context of Women's Market Careers

The authors compare determinants of labor force participation and occupational sex typing over a 20-year period for matched samples of American and Swiss women. Results indicate important cross-national differences in processes governing women's market careers. These are in line with the authors' predictions regarding mediating effects of specific cultural, organizational, and institutional factors that differentiate the two countries. Female labor force participation is more strongly influenced by family configuration in Switzerland than in the United States. This can be attributed to powerful cultural and organizational constraints on maternal employment in Switzerland. In addition, the association between educational credentials and occupational sex typing is stronger and more persistent in Switzerland due probably to the greater differentiation and tighter market linkages characterizing the Swiss educational system. Results suggest that the explanatory power of conventional individual-level models of female market behavior varies depending on the structural and normative conditions under which women make life choices.

Getting it Right: Sex and Race Inequality in Work Organizations

One of sociology's major accomplishments in the last quarter of the twentieth century was establishing that race and gender matter at work. We have been far less successful in explaining why workers' sex and race affect their employment outcomes, however, especially why jobs are segregated by sex and race, and why whites outearn people of color and men outearn women. When sex segregation first attracted attention, its high level of incidence led scholars to hypothesize universal explanatory processes: gender-role socialization, the domestic division of labor, patriarchal impulses by employers, male workers' responses to competitive threat. Because most readily available data were for workers, researchers concentrated on individual-level explanations. Despite a growing body of research on why the sexes aspired to, pursued, and abandoned more or less sex-typical occupations, and why race and sex were related to earnings, neither line of research has illuminated why race and sex inequality exists to varying degrees across work organizations. A few researchers recognized that understanding on-the-job inequality required studying work organizations. From them we learned why some California establishments were more or less segregated in the 1960s and 1970s (although there wasn't a lot of variability to explain; Bielby & Baron 1984), and the factors that led California state agencies to become more or less integrated during the 1980s (Baron et al 1991). These and a handful of other studies have shown that levels of inequality in work organizations are affected by organizational demography, organizational leadership, the degree to which personnel practices are formalized, recruitment methods, external pressure, and the availability of slack resources. But we failed to grasp their most important message: Inequality at work does not just happen; it occurs through the acts and the failures to act by the people who run and work for organizations. The first challenge for the twenty-first century in this area of sociology is to formulate empirically realistic accounts of how a range of jobs are filled in a cross-section of organizations. These accounts must be based on interviews with informants at multiple levels in the organization. Researchers must learn what if any organizational constraints determine how the opening came about, who specifies the necessary qualifications, and who can authorize exceptions? Who

Intrafamiliar Congruence in Gender-Role Ideology: Husband-Wife Versus Parents-Offspring

The study examined intrafamiliar congruence (i.e., mother-father and parent-offspring) in gender role ideology (gender role attitudes and sex-typing of occupations) among a sample of Israeli fathers, mothers, and adolescent offspring (n=134 in each group). The findings revealed a relatively high correlation between spouses for gender role attitudes, but only a moderate correlation for sex-typing of occupations, Similarly, a moderate correlation was found between parents and offspring in both aspects of gender role ideology. Out of all family members, mothers expressed the most liberal gender role ideology, whereas fathers were the most conservative. Moreover, a correlation was found between religiosity and gender role ideology. In addition, mothers of Asian-African origin and their husbands expressed more gender role attitudes than did mothers born in other countries. Among all family members, gender role attitudes and occupational sex-typing were interrelated

Gender identity, sex typing of occupations, and gender role ideology among adolescents: Are they related?

The study examined the impact of gender identity ongender role ideology and occupational sex typing among166 Israeli adolescents. The findings indicate thatgender identity affects occupational sex-typing.Specifically, androgynous respondents provided moreliberal evaluations of feminine-typed occupations thandid the undifferentiated group.Regarding gender role ideology, gender identity wasonly found to have an impact among the malerespondents. Specifically, sex-typed andundifferentiated males expressed more traditionalevaluations of feminine-typed roles than did theandrogynous and cross-sex-typed respondents. Inaddition, an effect was found for gender regardless ofgender identity, i.e., the females expressed lesssex-typed evaluations of occupations and lesstraditional perspectives of gender roles than did themales.