Gender differences and similarities in work preferences: Results from a factorial survey experiment

2021 ◽  
pp. 000169932110602
Author(s):  
Sara Seehuus
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Western World ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Job Attributes ◽  
Occupational Preferences ◽  
Occupational Gender ◽  
Gendered Occupations

Despite increased gender equality in many arenas in most of the Western world, women and men continue to choose different educational paths; this is one reason for the persistent gender segregation in the labour market. Cultural and economic explanations for occupational gender segregation both contend that gendered career choices reflect gendered preferences. By analysing data from a multifactorial survey experiment conducted in Norway, designed to isolate the preferences for occupations from preferences for job attributes with which occupation is often correlated: pay; type of position; and amount of work, this article examines whether and to what extent boys and girls who have not yet entered the labour market have different preferences for different work dimensions. The study shows some gender differences in occupational preferences, while also demonstrating similarities in boys’ and girls’ preferences for work dimensions, such as pay and working hours. This indicates that attributes tested by the experiment, which are typically associated with gendered occupations, cannot independently explain why boys and girls tend to have divergent occupational preferences. Importantly, however, the results suggest that boys’ reluctance to undertake some female-typed occupations might be reduced if they did not pay less than male-typed occupations requiring the same level of education.

The Analysis of Occupational Gender Segregation Over Time and Place: Considerations of Measurement and Some New Evidence

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Blackburn ◽  
Jennifer Jarman ◽  
Janet Siltanen
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Segregation ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Overall Stability ◽  
Occupational Gender ◽  
Gendered Occupations ◽  
Occupational Gender Segregation ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Index Of Dissimilarity ◽  
Cross National

Despite the importance of occupational segregation as an area of investigation concerned with understanding women's employment status, pay levels, and promotional prospects during the last 20 years, there has been relatively little attention paid to the problems of trying to measure segregation levels in quantitative data. This paper argues that there are serious measurement problems which it illustrates by showing that two of the principal indices, the widely-used Index of Dissimilarity and the OECD's WE Index are highly flawed and produce unreliable results. It demonstrates the importance of these deficiencies using cross-national data from 9 countries for the period 1970-1982. The paper introduces a new way of analysing the form of these indices in the Basic Segregation Table, which is a 2 x 2 table of gendered occupations by sex. The paper suggests a new approach to measuring occupational segregation which provides more consistent and valid results. This is called Marginal Matching. The paper ends with an analysis of occupational gender segregation in England and Wales from 1951 to 1981. It concludes that, in contrast to research claims to date, the trend in segregation over this period is one of overall stability.

scholarly journals Gender, occupational gender segregation and sickness absence

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne May Melsom ◽  
Arne Mastekaasa
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Fixed Effect ◽  
Health Differences ◽  
Occupational Gender ◽  
Occupational Gender Segregation ◽  
New Evidence

Women have much higher sickness absence rates than men. One prominent hypothesis is that this is a result of gender segregation in the labour market and the differences in employment or working conditions that follow from this. Previous studies assessing this idea give mixed results, but they do not take into account the possibility of selection effects. Long-term health differences between individuals may, for instance, influence both what jobs people end up in and their levels of sickness absence. In this paper, we provide new evidence on employment and working conditions as a cause of gender differences in sickness absence. We use individual fixed-effect models to account for selection based on stable individual characteristics. Like several previous studies, we find a U-shaped relationship with high absence in both male- and female-dominated occupations. However, the fixed-effect models show that this relationship is primarily caused by overrepresentation of absence-prone individuals in female-dominated occupations. Accounting for selection, the association between the proportion of women in the occupation and sickness absence is negative. As far as sickness absence is concerned, the gender segregation in the labour market thus seems to work to the advantage of women.

scholarly journals "We are like the Poles": On the ambiguous labour market position of young Icelanders

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margrét Einarsdóttir ◽  
Jónína Einarsdóttir ◽  
Guðbjörg Linda Rafnsdóttir
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Nordic Country ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Child Labour ◽  
Western World ◽  
Market Position ◽  
Flexible Part ◽  
Labour Market Position

Paid work is quite common amongst young people under the age of 18 in the Western world, although most undertake flexible part-time work. Nevertheless, studies on their labour market position are rare. The aim of this article is to examine the labour market position of young people in Iceland, a high-income Nordic country. We ask about: (i) young people’s general labour market rights regarding payslips and formal work contracts; (ii) their special labour market rights, safeguarded by child labour laws, in relation to rest periods, working hours, the prevalence of injuries and the consequent absence from work, and; (iii) the young persons’ own perceptions of their labour market position. The study is based on mixed methods: a survey (N = 952) and group interviews (N = 42) with 13-17-year-olds. The research reveals that the labour market position of young people is characterised by ambiguity. While their general rights to employment and decent pay are recognised to some extent, their work often violates child labour laws and accidents do occur. Young people commonly perceive their labour market position as weak. Their position in society, on the other hand, allows them to quit when confronted with an adverse work environment or if the work interferes with other duties. To conclude, education on occupational health and safety (OHS) and additional research on their labour market position are needed.

Gender Differences at Work: International Variations in Occupational Segregation

1999 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Jarman ◽  
Robert M. Blackburn ◽  
Bradley Brooks ◽  
Esther Dermott
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Occupational Segregation ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
Detailed Data ◽  
National Studies ◽  
National Analysis ◽  
Cross National

Despite the prominence of discussions of gender segregation in explanations of labour market inequalities, there have been relatively few cross-national studies due to a lack of suitably detailed data. A recent ILO initiative obtained suitable data for cross-national analysis of 38 countries, with a much greater number of occupational categories than has usually been available. This paper reports findings from the analysis of these data. The problems and potential of using such data are discussed and a standardisation is introduced to control for the effects of the number of occupations in the segregation measure. There are important differences in the level of segregation in different countries. The highly segregated countries are to be found in Western Europe, and in particular Scandinavia. Several Arab countries also have high levels of segregation. An argument is made suggesting that the context and meaning of segregation patterns may be quite different from what might be inferred from single country studies.

Hiring and Intra-occupational Gender Segregation in Software Engineering

2020 ◽  
pp. 000312242097180
Author(s):  
Santiago Campero
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Software Engineering ◽  
Software Quality ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Software Quality Assurance ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Occupational Gender ◽  
Self Assessments ◽  
Occupational Gender Segregation

Women tend to be segregated into different subspecialties than men within male-dominated occupations, but the mechanisms contributing to such intra-occupational gender segregation remain obscure. In this study, I use data from an online recruiting platform and a survey to examine the hiring mechanisms leading to gender segregation within software engineering and development. I find that women are much more prevalent among workers hired in software quality assurance than in other software subspecialties. Importantly, jobs in software quality assurance are lower-paying and perceived as lower status than jobs in other software subspecialties. In examining the origins of this pattern, I find that it stems largely from women being more likely than men to apply for jobs in software quality assurance. Further, such gender differences in job applications are attenuated among candidates with stronger educational credentials, consistent with the idea that relevant accomplishments help mitigate gender differences in self-assessments of competence and belonging in these fields. Demand-side selection processes further contribute to gender segregation, as employers penalize candidates with quality assurance backgrounds, a subspecialty where women are overrepresented, when they apply for jobs in other, higher-status software subspecialties.

Social Structure and the Paradox of the Contented Female Worker: How Occupational Gender Segregation Biases Justice Perceptions of Wages

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Valet
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Female Worker ◽  
Structural Explanation ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Structural Embeddedness ◽  
Justice Perceptions ◽  
Occupational Gender ◽  
Occupational Gender Segregation

This article provides a structural explanation for the paradox of the contented female worker. Although they are generally aware that they earn less than men, women usually perceive their wages as more just. This article argues that men and women do not differ in how they perceive their wages, yet the gendered segregation of the labor market will constrain the availability of preferred same-gender referent standards in some occupations. Random- and fixed-effects analyses of longitudinal data of the German Socio-Economic Panel covering the years 2009 to 2015 ( N = 26,362) reveal that the paradox is only detectable in occupations with a considerable number of female referents. However, as soon as women move into a male-dominated occupation, the paradox vanishes. These results contradict the view that men and women generally differ in how they perceive their wages and indicate that gender differences in justice perceptions can be explained by the structural embeddedness of employees in certain occupations.

scholarly journals Gender employment discrimination: A comparison between the banking sectors of Kuwait and the United Kingdom

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-57
Author(s):  
Rahaf Adel ◽  
Ahmad Alqatan
Keyword(s):  
Banking Sector ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Unbalanced Load ◽  
Occupational Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Conventional Banks ◽  
Recruitment And Selection ◽  
Social And Cultural Factors

Current literature has not examined gender employment issues in Kuwait’s banking industry. This is a key knowledge gap as many women are entering the sector and might be facing discriminatory conducts in comparison to their male colleagues. The scarcity of available literature regarding the Kuwaiti banking sector and its equality practices calls for more research attention to detect discriminatory conducts and improve governmental legislation. This paper builds an international comparison between Kuwait and Britain’s established discrimination legislation. It uses a primary qualitative research method within two of Kuwait’s private banks to address the following questions: firstly, what is the nature of implemented gender equality policies and practices within the banks? This includes patterns of gender segregation, recruitment and selection processes, promotional opportunities and gender pay gaps. And secondly, how do Islamic and conventional banks differ with regards to their equality practices and gender career opportunities? The findings of the study were similar within both Islamic and conventional banks. Results indicated a strong prevalence within Kuwait of social and cultural factors, which shape gender roles and ideologies. Occupational gender segregation and thus pay inequalities were found to be a distinct feature of the sector in both countries. And this was linked to long working hours cultures, the unbalanced load of domestic and care burden between males and females, as well as discretionary managerial practices for selection, hiring and promotions. The paper highlights key areas of improvements with regards to equality practices and legislative policy planning in Kuwait.

Breaking the Metal Ceiling

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Campos ◽  
Markus Goldstein ◽  
Laura McGorman ◽  
Ana Maria Munoz Boudet ◽  
Obert Pimhidzai
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Occupational Segregation ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Small Enterprises ◽  
Labour Market Participation ◽  
Female Labour Market Participation ◽  
Sub Saharan

Evidence from developed and developing countries indicates that there is significant gender segregation within the labour market, with women more likely to work in low-productivity sectors or less profitable businesses. This chapter looks at occupational segregation which significantly contributes to the earnings gender gap worldwide. The chapter studies the differences in outcomes for male and female enterprises and their sectors in sub-Saharan Africa, a region of high female labour market participation and entrepreneurship. Data on Uganda show that women breaking into male-dominated sectors make as much as men, and three times more than women staying in female-dominated sectors. Factors including entrepreneurial skill/abilities and credit/human capital constraints do not explain women’s sectoral choices. However, information about profitability of their small enterprises, male role models’ influence, and exposure to the sector from family and friends are critical in helping women circumvent or overcome norms undergirding occupational segregation.

Occupational Gender Segregation and the Earnings Gap: Changes in the 1980s

1995 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.A. Cotter ◽  
J.M. Defiore ◽  
J.M. Hermsen ◽  
B.M. Kowalewski ◽  
R. Vanneman
Keyword(s):  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Earnings Gap ◽  
Occupational Gender ◽  
Occupational Gender Segregation

From work sharing to temporal flexibility : working time policy in Belgium 1975-1990

Res Publica ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-51
Author(s):  
Jens Bastian
Keyword(s):  
Economic System ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Working Time ◽  
Market Effects ◽  
Work Sharing ◽  
Temporal Flexibility

The article focuses on working time policies introduced in Belgium during the period 1975-1990. As a country with early mass-unemployment, the magnitude of the unfolding Labour market problems fostered a specific set of responsive strategies. The initial trajectory of Belgian working time policies was centered around cutting standard weekly working hours in order to enhance Labour market effects. In the course of a marked issue transformation, work sharing objectives were substituted by the notion of temporal flexibility which focused primarily on concerns for and changes in the economie performance of individual firms. The author outlines various structural features of the Belgian socio-economic system and argues that these profoundly affected the goals identified with working time policies as much as the actor constellations endorsing the respective measures.

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