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1 – 10 of over 1000The purpose of this paper is to assess the changing pattern and direction of sex segregation of occupation as a measure of unbalanced distribution of occupation by sex in Ghana…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the changing pattern and direction of sex segregation of occupation as a measure of unbalanced distribution of occupation by sex in Ghana between 1960 and 2010, identify the sources of the changes and show whether female-male earnings difference has changed in line with the changes in occupational segregation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper applies two segregation indices to data from population censuses and household surveys in the empirical analysis
Findings
The outcome of the segregation measure indicates a generally modest to high but declining occupational sex segregation in Ghana over a period of five decades. Sex composition and occupational mix effects are found to be the underlying drivers of the declining segregation with the former coming up strongly during the initial 40 years. This has, however, not translated into narrowing female-male earnings gap.
Practical implications
The paper recommends measures towards economic transformation for a change in occupational structure backed by implementation of education policy to enhance female access to male-dominated science and engineering programmes and employment in high-skill occupations.
Originality/value
The strength of the paper is seen from its originality as it is the first attempt to assess changing pattern of occupational segregation over a long period of five decades with consistent and comparable data sources.
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Quantitative research on the segregation of same-sex partners in the USA is new, and limited by challenges related to the accurate measurement of segregation and data errors. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Quantitative research on the segregation of same-sex partners in the USA is new, and limited by challenges related to the accurate measurement of segregation and data errors. The purpose of this paper is to provide a novel approach to re-examine residential segregation between same-sex partners and different-sex partners in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
Two versions of the dissimilarity index and corrected same-sex partners data from the 2010 decennial census were used. Effects of different geographic scales were examined.
Findings
Results reveal that the levels of segregation of both male and female same-sex partners were higher at metropolitan- vs state-levels; the levels of segregation was lower when measured using the unbiased as compared to the conventional version of the D-index; and male same-sex partnered households were more segregated from different-sex partnered households than were female same-sex partnered households.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies should be attuned to geographic scale effects and should not ignore the bias of the D-index.
Originality/value
This study provides a better test of the differences between the two versions of the D-index and contributes to the literature by examining the segregation of both male same-sex partners and female same-sex partners across different geographic scales.
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Research has shown that occupational segregation by sex is one of the determinants of male‐female earnings differences. Some claim that occupational segregation is the major cause…
Abstract
Research has shown that occupational segregation by sex is one of the determinants of male‐female earnings differences. Some claim that occupational segregation is the major cause but others suggest that intra‐occupational earnings differences are more important. This study examines the truth of this.
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The purpose of this paper is to consider the relationship between “entrepreneurial segregation” – self‐employment in a gender typical or atypical sector – and social capital.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the relationship between “entrepreneurial segregation” – self‐employment in a gender typical or atypical sector – and social capital.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on analysis of data from the 2006 wave of the European Social Survey (ESS). A sample of 2,214 male and female business owners is extracted from the dataset. The sample comprises four sub‐samples – females in female‐dominated industries (n=283); females in male‐dominated industries (337); males in male‐dominated industries (n=1,476) and males in female‐dominated industries (n=118). Regression analysis is used to determine the impact of business owners' gender and the sector of their firm upon their levels of social capital.
Findings
Women who operate firms in traditionally female sectors are found to have the highest levels of social capital. In stark contrast, those individuals – men and women – working in traditionally male sectors exhibit lower levels of social capital, measured in terms of trust, community engagement and social networks. Furthermore, self‐employment in a gender traditional or non‐traditional sector is found to be a significant predictor of social capital.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the literature on female entrepreneurship in general but also contributes to the embryonic body of work that is concerned with segregation in self‐employment. To date, very little research has been conducted on women in atypical enterprises, or on the nature of their activities. This paper is a preliminary step towards filling this academic gap. No prior study has assessed the social capital men and women entrepreneurs operating traditional and non‐traditional enterprises.
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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…
Abstract
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.
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Examines gender and ethnic occupational segregation in Israel, focusing on the interaction between gender and ethnicity. Uses data from the 1983 and 1961 Population and Housing…
Abstract
Examines gender and ethnic occupational segregation in Israel, focusing on the interaction between gender and ethnicity. Uses data from the 1983 and 1961 Population and Housing Census, and two different indices to examine three issues: ethnic versus gender segregation; gender differences in ethnic occupational segregation; and ethnicity differences in gender occupational segregation. Finds that gender segregation is much higher than ethnic segregation; that, overall, women are not more ethnically segregated than men, and that there are ethnic differences in the overall gender dissimilarity indices. Focusing on the sex composition effect, finds that there is no difference in gender segregation within various ethnic groups. Suggests that only in the kibbutz are Eastern women more sexually segregated than Western women. Also investigates and presents long‐term trends between 1961 and 1983 and comparisons with the US. Explores the linkage between educational dispersion and occupational dispersion to explain the study findings. Concludes that educational disparities are responsible for differences in ethnic occupational segregation but not in gender occupational segregation. Offers demand‐side explanations.
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Gender divisions are embedded in and essential to the structure of capitalist production. While most men and women in the United States both now work for wages, they rarely work…
Abstract
Gender divisions are embedded in and essential to the structure of capitalist production. While most men and women in the United States both now work for wages, they rarely work together. Gender segregation has been identified as one of the major issues of the earnings gap between men and women. An explanation of the forces responsible for this has been difficult to achieve. Most theories fail to consider the contribution of demand‐side factors to gender segregation. Neo‐Marxist analysis of labour market segmentation and theories of the dual economy have provided new frameworks for investigating these structural or demand‐side features of industrial organisation. The pattern of blue‐collar segregation in US manufacturing industries is examined drawing on these theories. Employment data from the US census is used to identify how the levels of blue‐collar segregation in manufacturing industries are influenced by the industry's location within the core or peripheral sector of the US economy. Many of segregation's proposed remedies stress the role of supply‐side factors. These strategies focus attention almost exclusively on male and female workers and ignore the structure of the workplace. Strategies that ignore the dualistic nature of the US economy offer only partial solutions and may be counter‐productive. If forced to eliminate or reduce segmentation, employers may simply restructure their labour processes in a way that undermines rather than contributes to gender inequality. It is apparent that the pursuit of gender equality in the workplace is intrinsically related to and dependent on the broader efforts of workers to achieve greater control over production, both at the workplace and in the economy as a whole.
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Sandra Groeneveld, Kea Tijdens and Daphne van Kleef
The purpose of this paper is to examine gender differences in promotion probabilities of the academic staff of a large university in The Netherlands, taking into account the sex…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine gender differences in promotion probabilities of the academic staff of a large university in The Netherlands, taking into account the sex segregated context of the faculty.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses records of the university's personnel information system from 1990 to 2006, covering the data of 1,792 employees in the academic ranks who have entered since 1990. Cox regression models are used to test three hypotheses.
Findings
The findings show that women have lower promotion probabilities than men. The gender differences are primarily explained by differences in years of service and external mobility, and not by the sex segregated context of the faculty. A higher share of women decreases the odds of being promoted for both men and women. Gender differences in working hours do not explain the gender differences in promotion probabilities.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the existing literature because event history analyses have hardly been applied to personnel records for investigating the impact of the sex segregated context on promotion probabilities.
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Thomas Couppié, Arnaud Dupray and Stéphanie Moullet
The purpose of this paper is to test whether the gender wage gap at the beginning of the working life in France varies with the gender composition of occupations (male-dominated…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test whether the gender wage gap at the beginning of the working life in France varies with the gender composition of occupations (male-dominated, female-dominated or mixed) and its main determinant (educational pre-sorting or labour market sorting).
Design/methodology/approach
The first stage of the methodology is to decompose segregation indexes at occupation level into the two components of determination noted above. The occupations are then divided into five groups on the basis of their gender composition and the weight of the educational segregation. Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions are then applied to each group.
Findings
Among 54 strongly gendered occupations, the segregation in 26 stems mainly from educational pre-sorting. This context is favourable to reduction of the gender wage gap. However, a modest wage differential is not proof of convergence towards equity, as it may conceal the existence of a significant discrimination component, as in male occupations.
Research limitations/implications
The results relate to a cohort of French youth. The earnings-equalizing impact of education-based occupational segregation should be tested in other national contexts.
Social implications
Public authorities should put in place incentives to encourage women's participation in a greater range of education and training courses and to improve the matching between education and the skill content of jobs.
Originality/value
The originality lies in the suggestion that a strong connection between education and skill requirements helps to narrow the occupational gender wage gap.
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This study develops a social psychological model to account for women’s gender‐typed occupational mobility. The model delineates that occupational gender composition affects…
Abstract
This study develops a social psychological model to account for women’s gender‐typed occupational mobility. The model delineates that occupational gender composition affects women’s psychological experience (experience of sex discrimination, self‐efficacy, and gender role ideology), and that this psychological experience, in turn, contributes to their mobility between male‐dominated and female‐dominated occupations. Using the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) of Young Women data, the study finds that occupational gender composition affects women’s report of experience of sex discrimination but not self‐efficacy or gender role ideology. Self‐efficacy contributes to women’s gender‐typed occupational mobility, but experience of sex discrimination and gender role ideology do not. The direction for future research is discussed.
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