Sex segregation of occupations under examination Individual, job and business characteristics associated with male and female occupations

Abstract

Today, the segregation of occupations according to sex is an invisible frontier that structures the production system (61% of all workers find themselves in occupations that are either predominantly male or predominantly female). Our main purpose in analysing occupational segregation is to understand whether this separation implies differences in opportunities and/or labour rewards. In order to carry out this study, first the very phenomenon of occupational segregation is described and quantified with the help of the 2001 Census (to avoid sample error, something which might occur if we work with a very disaggregated —three digit— National Occupational Code, CNO4). Then, through multinomial logit regression and using the Labour Force Survey (EPA) and the Survey on Salary Structures (EES), personal characteristics, jobs and the businesses associated with segregated occupations are studied. The results demonstrate both the quantitative importance of the phenomenon and its close relationship with gender stereotypes. Furthermore, some characteristics of female occupations that call the theory of human capital into question and clarify some assumptions of the theory of labour market segmentation, emerge.