Search Results

Title: Gender and First Job: Ticket for a Life Journey
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Gotbaum, Sarah C.
Gender and First Job: Ticket for a Life Journey
Ph.D. Dissertation, Yale University, 1989. DAI-A 50/11, p. 3767, May 1990
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Education; Educational Returns; Gender Differences; Life Course; Occupational Attainment; Occupational Status

It has been argued that entry into the labor force reinforces the social stratification process for the entire society, thereby marking a critical point in the life course of women and men. This dissertation investigates one element in the causal chain of gender differences in labor market placements and rewards: the relationship of first job to the occupational destinations of women compared with men. The research literature has shown that career entry jobs are not as important as education in predicting the occupational attainment of men over the course of their working lives. For women, however, research has produced conflicting findings. This thesis argues that occupational entry early in the work history of women is a stronger determinant of their ultimate occupational status attainment than is that of men. Corrolary to this thesis, it is also argued that contrary to the research findings for men, the education and parental socio-economic status of women have weaker effects than occupational entry status on occupational destination. The data for this analysis are drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women (NLS) and the Occupational Changes in a Generation survey of men (OCG). The subsamples represent white women, aged 30-44 in the workforce in 1967, and white men, aged 30-44 in the workforce in 1962. This historical cohort, a generation in transition, represents women and men who spent their early childhood or schooling during the Great Depression of the 1930's and entered adulthood during or post World War II. The Blau-Duncan model of status attainment was replicated for both samples, using path analytic regression equations for the variables: paternal education and occupation, and respondent's education, first and current job occupational status. The findings reveal that for women born in the 1920's/1930's era, unlike their comparable cohort of men, career beginnings operate as the most important influence on their future occupational status. A woman's first job, more than her education, is the strongest predictor of her occupational destination. Conversely, for men of this era, unlike their comparable cohort of women, education operates as the most important influence on their future occupational status. A man's education, more than his first job, is the strongest predictor of his occupational destination. At entry, education operates as a stronger gatekeeping mechanism on the first job of women than of men. However, as women and men move through their working life course, women experience a decreased influence while men experience an increased influence of education on ultimate occupational status.
Bibliography Citation
Gotbaum, Sarah C. Gender and First Job: Ticket for a Life Journey. Ph.D. Dissertation, Yale University, 1989. DAI-A 50/11, p. 3767, May 1990.