The sociology of Work

Gender Segregation in the Workplace

  1. Definitions:

    • Gender/Sex Segregation in the Workplace: the concentration of men and women in different occupations, jobs, and places of work.

    • Occupation-level segregation: whole occupations are either predominantly male or female.

      • Men and women are doing different tasks here.
        • E.g., Nurses are mostly women; mechanics are mostly men.
        • E.g., Managers are mostly men, and secretaries mostly women.
    • *Job-level segregation: within the same occupation, there is sex segregation in the specific jobs.

      • E.g., Salespeople at Sears - men sell appliances, women sell clothing.
      • E.g., Female bank tellers are in suburban branch; mostly male tellers at downtown branch.
  2. Contemporary Patterns: Gender Segregation

    • Persistent Occupational Segregation

    • Job segregation within integrated occupations: We still have job segregation within occupations

      • Physicians: Women tend to go into:
        • ob/gyn (76% residents are female, 2015)
        • pediatrics (70% residents are female, 2015)
        • psychiatry (53% residents female, 2015)
        • family medicine (52% residents female, 2015)
      • Men dominate:
        • neurosurgery, cardiology, oncology (80-90% men)
        • general surgery (72% residents are male, 2015)
      • Real Estate
        • Female real estate agents are concentrated in residential sales,
        • Men continued to dominate commercial sales.
    • What is associated with these different jobs?

  3. Consequences of Gender Segregation:

    • Separating groups into different places and different roles makes it easier to treat them unequally

    • Nature of jobs/occupations is tied to income as well as authority and promotion.

    • Example

    • Wage gap:

      • Sex segregation in jobs is one factor that influences differences in earnings.
    • Sex differences in promotion and authority: Padavic & Reskin reading:

      • Heavily female occupations are often dead-end (no higher position to go to) E.g., Child-care worker
      • Women concentrated at low levels or less prestigious roles; with less opportunity for advancement. E.g., Secretary; receptionist
      • Women supervise fewer subordinates than men and are less likely to control financial resources. E.g., Women in Human Resources; Men in Finance Departments
      • Women's authority is sometimes undermined by co-workers. E.g., "Iron Lady" movie clip

Gender Segregation: Explanations

  1. Employer's Actions - Structural Barriers (Padavic and Reskin: "Segregation," "Social Networks," and "Organizations' Personnel Practices")

    • Actions of employers most important:

      • Often concentrate men and women into different jobs.
      • Or they assign different tasks to men and to women, within the same job.
    • WHY? E.g., HBS Case Study on hiring female MBAs

      • Power:
        • In-group favoritism:
          • Most people within hiring power are men
          • They want to maintain men in power positions
          • Or simply like to work with similar others. "Old Boys Club
        • "Homosocial reproduction":
          • To eliminate uncertainty hire someone like you
          • Employer believe that similar people are likely to make same decisions they would
      • Cultural beliefs / Social expectations:
        • Employers' actions often based on gender stereotypes
        • Notions of what is "proper" work or tasks for men and women. E.g., will assign men and women tasks that fit these expectations
        • Abilities: believe that men and women have different abilities or characteristics. Thus, they should do different jobs.
        • Needs: believe that men and women have different needs. Men need to provide for family.
  2. Example: Tolich and Briar, "Just Checking It Out: Exploring the Significance of Informal Gender Divisions Among American Supermarket Employees"

    • Background:

      • Interviews with 65 supermarket employees in Northern California (22 were women).
      • Observations of workers in the check stands and in staff canteen
      • 55 were "Journeymen Clerks"
      • All had same pay and job description - What is the organizational structure?
    • Results:

      • Task Segregation by Gender:
        • Were men and women segregated by task?
        • How did this occur (formally? informally?)
      • Consequences of Task Segregation
        • Promotion: How were promotion opportunities affected by gender segregation?
        • Quality of working life: How did this segregation affect the work life of both men and women?
      • Explanations for Segregation in Grocery Store:
        • WHY did the segregation occur?
        • Which of the explanations (of employers' actions) mentioned above were operating here?
    • Conclusions:

      • Woman at one of these stores brought case of sex discrimination through her union.
      • 1992, S.F. judge ruled against Lucky Stores:
        • Lucky discriminated against women by systematically denying them promotions, training, and desirable work assignments.
  3. Explanations: Worker's own actions / preferences: Men and women often choose work/occupations that fit gender expectations.

    • Socialization to "gendered" work:

      • Certain skills/work associated with each gender
      • Men and women are steered toward these gender-appropriate occupations.
      • People choose work that they have been socialized to think is appropriate for them
      • E.g., Women prefer "feminine" work
        • Because of socialization into feminine traits - caring, compassion, relationships
        • Women prefer work that centers around these traits
        • E.g., nursing, teaching, social work
    • Cultural Family/Work Options:

      • 19-th Century Cultural notion of "Separate Spheres"
        • Men in the workforce
        • Women at home
      • These cultural ideas persist:
        • Men expected to provide financially for family
        • Women expected to provide emotionally, practically for family.
      • However, women's options have expanded:
        • Normative for women to go into labor force
        • Also normative for women to prioritize family
        • This can lead some women to "opt out" of more demanding jobs/occupations
      • Men have fewer options:
        • Normative to go into labor force
        • NOT normative to stay home with family
        • More pressure to succeed at work
  4. Example: Workers Own Actions, Christine Williams, "Masculinity in Nursing"

    • Here we see the exception to "gender-expected" occupations: men in a feminine occupation.

    • How does this affect the men at work>

      • The difficulties here, illustrate reasons that men and women may NOT choose gender-atypical work.
    • Token Status at Work:

      • Tokenism: when one category of people (e.g., female) is 15% or less of the work group; compared to 85% or more of the dominant category (e.g., male)

      • Male nurses are "tokens" in female world of nursing
        • Very small numbers of men in nursing - 5%
        • Major reason for low numbers:
          • Men do not want to be nurses because of the femininity of the occupation
        • Personality tests show that male nurses are no different than other men.
        • Many from working class.
          • No other options.
    • Gender interactions at work: Same gender informal work groups:

      • Workers create shared values and ideas at work:
        • These constitute a workplace culture,
      • Often this workplace culture revolves around separate-gender groups.
        • Largely because of sex segregation in jobs.
      • Gender displays: language or rituals that are characteristic of one sex.

      • Female work groups: gender displays:
        • Focus talk on personal, familial events
        • Tendency to celebrate private life at work
        • These displays affirm heterosexuality and femininity.
      • Male work groups: gender displays:
        • Sexual language and conversations about sex
        • "Macho: talk and behavior, sports talk
        • These gender displays affirm heterosexuality and masculinity.
      • Tokenism exaggerates gender interactions at work.
    • Male Nurses at Work:

      • Reactions to the Male Token
        • Gender displays of female nurses?
          • What do the female nurses talk about?
          • How does this “heighten boundaries” with male nurses?
        • Reactions of physicians to male nurses
          • How do physicians interact with male nurses?
          • Is this positive or negative for male nurses?
        • Reactions of patients to male nurses
          • How do patients react to male nurses?
          • Is this positive or negative for male nurses?
      • Stereotyping: By nurses, physicians, outsiders
        • Masculine stereotype
          • How are male nurses stereotyped in terms of “masculinity”?
          • What are the reactions of male nurses to this?
          • What are the consequences of this stereotyping?
        • Homosexual stereotype
          • Why are male nurses stereotyped in this way?
          • What are the consequences of this stereotyping?
      • Responses by Male Tokens
        • How do the male nurses respond to reactions from co-workers and patients?
        • How do male nurses respond to stereotypes at work?
      • Consequences of male tokenism in nursing
        • What are the consequences of male tokenism in the world of nursing?
        • Positive? Negative?
  5. Summary: Explanations for Sex Segregation in Work

    • Sex Segregation in occupations and jobs is the result of a combination of factors

    • Most notably:

      • Structural Barriers: Employers’ actions based on:
        • Power
        • Cultural beliefs
      • Workers own preferences/actions
        • Gender socialization
        • Cultural Work/Family Options

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