Occupational Sex-Segregation: Causes and Changes

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This purpose of this research is to investigate the determinants of sex segregation by occupation. Although it has long been established that the distribution of jobs held by men and women varies greatly, there has been wide disagreement over the causes. Explanations for occupational segregation include sex discrimination, different comparative advantages based on gender for particular types of work, and different job preferences of men and women. This study is important because it will provide useful insights into the functioning of the labor market, at a time when there is considerable debate about the need for and the appropriateness of government intervention, in order to produce a more uniform distribution of men and women across occupations. To help distinguish among the competing hypotheses that might explain occupational segregation, a data set will be assembled containing occupational characteristics from various sources including the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, the Quality of Employment Surveys, the 1970 and 1980 censuses, and the Current Population Surveys. These characteristics will be used to investigate how jobs held predominantly by women differ from those typically held by men. In addition, the question of why only some occupations that were dominated by one sex in 1970 have shown substantial movement toward a more even division between men and women will be investigated.