Gendered Occupational Segregation

To many, gendered occupational segregation is an “invisible” issue. The division of labor among men and women is not as prevalent as it once was in the United States. However, just because an issue is not explicit, does not mean it is not significant. Women make up half of the workforce today, but they are largely employed in “female” occupations. Not coincidentally, men dominate certain “male” occupations.

Gendered occupational segregation has an immediate effect on employees and employers. There is considerable research suggesting that occupational choice is often constrained by socialization, lack of information, or more direct barriers to entry to training or work in occupations where one sex is a small minority of the workforce." This constraint leads not only to sub-optimal outcomes for individual workers, but it also reduces overall productivity and economic growth as employers have to select from a smaller and less motivated pool of workers.

Additionally, research suggests that a significant share of the gender wage gap is accounted for by differences in the occupations were men and women work. As of 2009, the three largest female-dominated (75 percent or more female) occupations that are “high skill level” were elementary and middle school teachers, registered nurses, and social workers. The weekly earnings for these occupations averaged to $953. On the other hand, the three largest male-dominated (75 percent or more male) occupations that are “high skill level” were chief executives, computer software engineers, and construction managers. The weekly earnings for these occupations averaged to $1,424 (Hegewisch, et al., 2010). Therefore, the weekly salary difference between male and female dominated occupations that require are high skill level is $468 – making a difference of $22,464 in earnings per year.

Gendered occupational segregation has a significant effect on the economy and individuals; it impedes economic growth (on the macro and micro level) and it limits gender diversification in multiple fields of study, mainly higher paying jobs. Luckily, this issue is not a “dead end” problem – there are ways to combat segregation in the labor market. Educating girls and women in nontraditional, higher paying jobs is one solution. In order to do this individuals and organizations must combat the stereotypes and biases that pervade American culture among women in STEM. Awareness concerning the unequal division of at-home caregiving work must also be brought to the public’s attention; equality in domestic work should allow women to focus more on building successful careers. In addition, as Sheryl Sandberg said, women need to “lean in” to leadership roles within the workplace. Together, men and women need to eliminate gender stereotypes and biases and instead create a culture that encourages equality in economic and academic opportunity; everyone will benefit from the integration of men and women in professional careers.