Causes Of Occupational Segregation

Sociologist Dalton Conley wrote his book, You May Ask Yourself, addressing how “gender is a social construction” that is so normal for society to think how a man or woman should act towards the public. Society often categorizes roles that females and males are suppose to play in, but not only are they categorized they are also being taught what their gender role is suppose to do. The beginning of gender socialization can start with a child who is not born yet by simply having the parents purchase items that are all pink if its expected to be a girl, but if its expected to be a boy then everything they purchase will be blue. Conley states that gender roles are “sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany ones’ status as male or female” (Conley [2008] 2013:134). So even when a child is growing into their infant years, toys are made specifically for their gender. By examining how social construction places gender in categories it becomes apparent that males and females get differentiated a lot which emphasizes inequality between them.

The problem begins back in early childhood. Children are so innocently blind that they do not realize that occupational sex segregation appears in their every day life. An example of this is shown in Nemerowicz’s book, Children’s Perception of Gender and Work Roles. Nemerowicz asked fourth grade children to draw a man at work and a woman at work. Eighty-six percent of the pictures showed men in jobs associated with power and labour of some kind (Mackie, 1990). Men were drawn as construction workers, policemen, firemen, doctors and businessmen. On the other hand, women were shown as housekeepers, nurses, cashiers and secretaries. Using Nemerowicz’s results it is safe to say that children had to have learned occupational sex segregation somewhere. Was it their parents, their teachers or their toys that had this stereotypical affect on them? Since early sex segregation like this occurs, differences between men and women in a child’s future work environment are imminent.

Although the recent upward trends in the number of women in STEM fields are promising, they are not truly due to decreasing cultural stereotypes. Women receiving graduate degrees in engineering increased by 2 percent from 2000 to 2008, but this trend is not as hopeful as it may seem (Giges). This increase was mainly evident in communal fields like environmental or biomedical engineering (Giges). This is further evidence of the impact of cultural stereotypes and their influence on women’s career paths. Society’s expectation of women is that they serve as caring motherly figures and community-centered careers adhere

Occupational segregation by gender is at the heart of stereotyped career choices and has shown a stubborn resistance to change in the labour market of the

Occupational segregation is seen almost everywhere. It refers to the fact that men and women are concentrated in different types of jobs, based on prevailing understandings of what is appropriate ‘male’ and ‘female’ work. Occupational segregations have both vertical and horizontal components. Vertical segregation refers to the tendency for women to be concentrated in jobs with little authority and hardly any room for advancement, while men occupy more powerful and influential positions. Horizontal segregation refers to the tendency for both men and women to occupy different categories of job. The reasons for the persistence of occupational segregation are rooted in a complex interplay between societal and personal gender stereotypes, discrimination by power-holders against out-groups, habits and social inertia-and the repeated impact of all these on individuals’ choices and behaviours. Though increasing number of women now work full time outside the home, a large number are concentrated in part-time employment. Men, by and large, do not assume prime responsibility for the rearing of children. However, it is also seen that women have started bagging some important positions in jobs. Several processes have affected these trends. One significant factor is that more women are moving into higher paying professional positions than was the earlier case. Young women with good qualifications are now as likely as their male counterpart to land into lucrative jobs. The improved

In 2015, all female employees working full time were paid approximately 80% of what men were paid. One of the factors frequently used to explain this disparity between men and women is occupational segregation. In other words, men tend to fill the ranks of higher paying jobs and women tend to be overrepresented in fields that pay significantly less. When one looks at men and women working in the same occupation, there are still wage differentials. Even in the legal profession, intra-occupational segregation takes form as men and women go into different areas of practice. Studies have found that women are usually well represented in niche practices such as labor, probate, family law and immigration. However, their numbers tend to be lower in

Occupational segregation is important and difficult to measure. Summary measures are used to track change in the sexual division of labour across decades, but no single index can capture all dimensions of interest, in particular vertical segregation, which explains much of the sex differential in earnings. The choice of index is not crucial; research results are determined primarily by other methodological choices in the formatting of the base data-set. Britain provides a strategic case for assessing the impact of recession and work-force restructuring in the 1980s, in analyses based on Census and Labour Force Survey data for 1979–90 for 550 occupational groups. Surprisingly, the 1980s display a larger fall in occupational segregation than

Have you ever stopped to consider why such drawbacks prevail in our society? Most wish to believe it’s due to women playing dual roles as mothers and full time employees. Others believe that it’s a mere coincidence, and that segregation no longer takes a role in our world. From a young age, gender segregation is inculcated beyond our notice. Boys wear blue and girls wear pink. Boys play with cars, guns, and video games, while girls play with dolls, make-up, and have tea parties. This inception of gender

Even before we’re born w e are impacted by gender societal expectations, but no one is more greatly affected than those who do not fit into “typical” gender norms. Kids before they are born are already judged on what color they like and what toys they would enjoy. The things

At the time we are born we fall prey to our gender, with little choice in the matter, we are expected to fulfill a role to that gender, to develop into an individual with characteristics focused around that particular gender (Stern & Karraker, 1989). Conclusions are drawn to what colors we will be dressed in "beginning with the pink and blue blankets used with babies"(Wood, 2011), what kind of toys we will play with, and what kinds of jobs we will possibly hold later on in life. But as we develop our perception of that gender 's role shifts and change according to

There are many problems and concerns within our public education system, usually surrounding money, public intervention, the latest reforms, as well as unequal gender bias. Gender bias in education is typically thought of the fact that girls are pushed toward classes that are humanities based, while the boys are pushed to take classes that are science and math driven. This then leads into the fact that women make less money than men, so something must be unequal, whether it is education or gender rights, or both. This paper will examine the gender gap in K-12 education, which includes stereotyping and the unequal representation of boys in math and science classes. Since the early 2000s there has been a push for girls to join the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields, therefore, this paper assesses how that might affect their involvement in the STEM field in college and within the workforce. Lastly, what implications does women’s emergence into the STEM field have on breaking down barriers and stereotypes regarding education and equal pay.

Roles are often assigned to boys and girls in accordance with the sex assigned at birth. We refer to these as gender roles. Gender roles begin to be imposed as early as birth. The nursery in the hospital assigns either a blue name plate for a boy or a pink name plate for a girl. These roles are continuously reinforced by family. Children learn at an early age that boys and girls are different. Children observe gender roles and in many cases these roles are eventually accepted as an unquestionable truth. This creates gender stereotyping which is defined by The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as a generalized view or preconception about attributes or characteristics that are or ought to be possessed by, or the roles that are or should be performed by men and women. A gender stereotype can be extremely harmful and limit ones capacity to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional careers and make choices about their lives and life plans.

Female and male students are very different in a multitude of ways. In STEM fields, there is a large amount of males involved in comparison to females. The arguments for this discrepancy are usually based upon differences in the ways that the two genders are raised throughout childhood. Traditionally, males are encouraged in subjects which require more logical, left-brain thinking while women are usually encouraged in artistic or creative subjects. In some cases, this encouragement is explicit wherein boys who are artistic are marginalized and mocked as effeminate and the same holds true for girls who are interested in math or the sciences. More often than not, this perspective is implicit and implied by the larger society in general; consequently, as adults women are less likely to enter STEM fields due to their upbringing. They are even more unlikely to seek or obtain positions of authority or leadership in these fields than their male counterparts.

Walk down the toy aisle of any big box store during the holidays, and it will quickly become apparent that there are two distinct sections: the boy section and the girl section. The boy section is dominated by creative, activity and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) based toys like Legos and G.I. Joe and bikes and adventure gear. The girl section is almost entirely pink and stocked with items that promote maternal and wifely activities; baby dolls and kitchen items and miniature broom/dustpan sets. Children’s toys being segregated by gender are harmful to development in childhood and beyond. This establishes unfair gender roles and norms from the earliest developmental stages. It perpetuates the idea that males are supposed to be the builders and thinkers while females should cook, clean and make babies. This leaves little room for the belief that men can be nurturing and sensitive, or that women can also be powerful, physical or self-sufficient.

The gender gap is a commonly debated issue, is it real, is it fake? In the STEM fields, it is all too real. As women in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields are fewer than their male counterparts. The gender gap can be broken down into rhetorical analysis concepts such as ethos and logos. Ethos (ethics) is easily exhibited through unequal opportunities while logos (logic) can be demonstrated by data presented in studies. Gender bias is not as talked about as it should be, but rather we focus on race and ethnicity bias more. As a result, gender is often overlooked as a minority classification; however, it is included in the civil rights amendment making it a possibility of discrimination. Thus, bias stems from institutional discrimination, which is when the customary way of doing things, prevailing attitudes and expectations, and expected structural arrangements work to the disadvantage of some groups (Eitzen 195). This, as a result, has discouraged many women from challenging these discriminatory ideas, especially in the STEM fields. More often than not women in these fields do not hold the same prestige positions as their male counterparts, as well as experiencing a lower pay for the same amount of work.