scholarly journals What’s in an Occupation? Investigating Within-Occupation Variation and Gender Segregation Using Job Titles and Task Descriptions

2021 ◽  
pp. 000312242110420
Author(s):  
Ananda Martin-Caughey
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Occupational Prestige ◽  
Text Data ◽  
Job Titles ◽  
Task Descriptions ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Occupation Level ◽  
And Task

Occupations have long been central to the study of inequality and mobility. However, the occupational categories typical in most U.S. survey data conceal potentially important patterns within occupations. This project uses a novel data source that has not previously been released for analysis: the verbatim text responses provided by respondents to the General Social Survey from 1972 to 2018 when asked about their occupation. These text data allow for an investigation of variation within occupations, in terms of job titles and task descriptions, and the occupation-level factors associated with this variation. I construct an index of occupational similarity based on the average pairwise cosine similarity between job titles and between task descriptions within occupations. Findings indicate substantial variation in the level of similarity across occupations. Occupational prestige, education, and income are associated with less heterogeneity in terms of job titles but slightly more heterogeneity in terms of task descriptions. Gender diversity is associated with more internal heterogeneity in terms of both job titles and task descriptions. In addition, I use the case of gender segregation to demonstrate how occupational categories can conceal the depth and form of stratification.

scholarly journals What’s in an Occupation? Investigating Within-Occupation Variation and Gender Segregation Using Job Titles and Task Descriptions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ananda Martin-Caughey
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Occupational Prestige ◽  
Text Data ◽  
Job Titles ◽  
Task Descriptions ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Occupation Level ◽  
And Task

Occupations have long been central to the study of inequality and mobility. However, the occupational categories typical in most U.S. survey data conceal potentially important patterns within occupations. This project uses a novel data source that has not previously been released for analysis: the verbatim text responses provided by respondents to the General Social Survey from 1972 to 2018 when asked about their occupation. These text data allow for an investigation of variation within occupations, in terms of job titles and task descriptions, and the occupation-level factors associated with this variation. I construct an index of occupational similarity based on the average pairwise cosine similarity between job titles and between task descriptions within occupations. Findings indicate substantial variation in the level of similarity across occupations. Occupational prestige, education, and income are associated with less heterogeneity in terms of job titles but slightly more heterogeneity in terms of task descriptions. Gender diversity is associated with more internal heterogeneity in terms of both job titles and task descriptions. In addition, I use the case of gender segregation to demonstrate how occupational categories can conceal the depth and form of stratification.

The Segregation Premium: How Gender Shapes the Symbolic Valuation Process of Occupational Prestige Judgments

Social Forces ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-58
Author(s):  
Lauren Valentino
Keyword(s):  
General Social Survey ◽  
Occupational Prestige ◽  
Sociology Of Culture ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Valuation Process ◽  
Predominantly Female ◽  
Occupation Level ◽  
Male Occupations

Abstract Symbolic valuation is an important but overlooked aspect of gendered processes of inequality in the occupation structure. Prior work has largely focused on the material valuation of gendered work, such as how much predominantly-female versus predominantly-male occupations pay. Less research has examined the symbolic valuation of work, such as how prestigious predominantly-female versus predominantly-male occupations are. What research has examined this question has remained inconclusive at best. Drawing on insights into and techniques from the sociology of culture and cognition, this study examines the role of an occupation’s gender composition in how Americans judge the prestige of jobs, testing key predictions from theories of gender and status. Using 2012 General Social Survey and federal occupation-level data, it finds evidence for a segregation premium: people view gender-segregated occupations as the most symbolically valuable jobs. Both men and women reward gender-segregated occupations with symbolic value, although there is evidence of a gendered in-group bias in which women in particular see women’s work as more prestigious, while men see men’s work as more prestigious.

Graduate Students' Perceptions of Ethnic and Gender Diversity

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Zarb ◽  
Ryan F. Birch ◽  
David Gleave ◽  
Winston Seegobin ◽  
Joel Perez
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
And Gender

The Co-Occurrence of Autism and Gender Diversity

2020 ◽  
pp. 197-211
Author(s):  
Jill C. Fodstad ◽  
Rebecca Elias ◽  
Shivali Sarawgi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Dysphoria ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
Medical Interventions ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
Nonbinary Gender ◽  
Psychiatric Conditions ◽  
The Common ◽  
And Gender

Gender diversity refers to gender expressions and/or gender identity experiences that vary from the common experiences of gender. Gender-diverse people may be gender nonconforming, gender nonbinary, gender fluid, gender exploring, transgender, and so forth. Some gender-diverse individuals experience gender dysphoria and/or gender incongruence and may require gender-affirming supports, including gender-affirming medical interventions. The co-occurrence of autism and gender diversity has been highlighted in a series of studies internationally as well as through rich community expressions. Studies in gender-referred individuals reveal high rates of autism traits as well as high rates of existing autism diagnoses. Studies in autistic populations reveal greater gender diversity characteristics. The long-term course of gender diversity in autistic individuals is poorly understood. Clinical guidelines have been developed for adolescents with the co-occurrence, but much work remains: No gender-related measures have been developed and tested for use in neurodiverse populations, no programs exist to support gender-diverse neurodiverse adults, and little is known about co-occurring mental health profiles, risks, or protective factors for people with the co-occurrence. The inclusion of this chapter on co-occurring autism and gender diversity within a book on “co-occurring psychiatric conditions” is problematic, because gender diversity is not a “psychiatric condition,” but instead a form of human diversity. The diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria is useful only insomuch as it allows individuals to obtain necessary gender-related supports. The authors’ choice to include this chapter in this book reflects a compromise, motivated by the need for educating both autism and gender specialists in this common co-occurrence.

Race, Gender, and Perceived Employment Discrimination

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 509-527
Author(s):  
Philip Q. Yang
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
White Women ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Employment Discrimination ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Independent Effect ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Job Discrimination ◽  
And Gender

This study investigates the effects of race and gender on perceived employment discrimination using the 2016 General Social Survey that provides new data on perceived employment discrimination that aligns more closely with the legal definition of employment discrimination. It is found that 19% of the American adults self-reported the experience of employment discrimination in job application, pay increase, or promotion in the past 5 years. The results of logistic regression analysis show that either controlling or not controlling for other factors, Blacks were much more likely to perceive being discriminated in employment than Whites, but other races were not significantly different from Whites in perceived employment discrimination after holding other variables constant. While gender did not have a significant independent effect on perceived job discrimination, it did interact with race to influence perceived job discrimination. Regardless of race, women were somewhat less likely than men to perceive job discrimination, but Black women were significantly even less likely than White women to self-report job discrimination, and Black men were much more likely to self-report employment discrimination than White men. These findings have implications for combating employment discrimination and addressing social inequalities.

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