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Title: Gender Differences in Occupational Distributions Among Workers
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Gabriel, Paul E.
Schmitz, Susanne
Gender Differences in Occupational Distributions Among Workers
Monthly Labor Review 130,6 (June 2007): 19-24.
Also: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2007/06/art2full.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Gender Differences; Occupational Attainment

An investigation of gender differences in occupational attainment of prime-age U.S. workers reveals that such differences do exist, especially among women, but apparently are the results of voluntary choices and long-term changes in the labor market.

DO WOMEN AND MEN ENCOUNTER unequal employment prospects across occupations, given their personal characteristics? Empirical evidence presented in this article indicates that gender differences in occupational distributions remained stable during the 1990s at levels comparable to those of the 1980s. The multinomial logit model of occupational attainment set forth here also detected a significant shift of women across occupational categories if their characteristics are evaluated according to the men's occupational structure. These shifts did not change significantly throughout the 1990s and are similar to comparable estimates from the late 1970s and 1980s. A more detailed examination of the occupational shifts occupational distribution predicts a movement of women from white-collar to blue-collar jobs. This is unlikely, however, especially in light of recent literature on occupational employment patterns and choice by gender. Thus, U.S. women in their thirties and forties do not appear to encounter significant levels of involuntary segregation across broad occupational categories. Although gender differences in occupational attainment persist, they apparently result from voluntary choices of men and women and from long-term changes in labor markets, such as the simultaneous growth of white-collar occupations and women's labor force participation rates.

Bibliography Citation
Gabriel, Paul E. and Susanne Schmitz. "Gender Differences in Occupational Distributions Among Workers." Monthly Labor Review 130,6 (June 2007): 19-24.