This thesis is an attempt to describe and explain occupational segregation by sex as evidenced by 1961 Canadian census data. Previous writers discussed the ethical question of whether men and women should be occupationally segregated or whether they should receive equal pay for equal work. This literature is reviewed. Irrespective of ethical issues, if men and women are equally productive but unequally paid, why should a profit maximizing firm hire any but the cheapest labour? This problem is known as Cassel's paradox. Previous attempts to resolve Cassel's paradox included the use of simple supply and demand models, barriers to competition, theories of monopsony, human capital theory and adjustments for quality differences. These approaches are criticized and alternative concepts of discrimination are reviewed. For the purpose of the thesis, statistical discrimination is defined as a situation in which employers draw inferences about productivity from unalterable attributes of individuals even though the attributes are not correlated with productivity. A model of occupational segregation by sex is developed that permits analysis of statistical discrimination. Employers are assumed to hire labour under uncertainty as to its qualifications. Hiring is assumed to involve a cost. Each occupation is characterized by the traits required to perform in the occupation. The probability that a person is qualified for an occupation is assumed to depend on the traits required for the occupation and the person's sex. From these assumptions the derived demand for the male-female employment ratio by occupation is determined as a function of employer investment, male and female wages, and the required traits. Statistical discrimination is said to be indicated if a trait is significantly related to the male-female employment ratio and yet there is no significant difference in its distribution by sex. A correlation coefficient of 0.78 is found in a relation between the logarithm of the male-female employment ratio and thirteen independent variables including a proxy for employer investment, the wage ratio, the male-female education ratio and ten traits. The education ratio, included in the regression analysis to adjust for quality differences, has the greatest impact of any variable. Its negative coefficient is opposite in sign to what was expected. It is possible that the negative education coefficient indicates discrimination. Data was not available for the actual distribution by sex for five of the ten traits. Three of the remaining traits, numerical aptitude, spatial aptitude and form aptitude, indicate the presence of statistical discrimination. The need for further research on how stereotypes affect occupational segregation is suggested by this study. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

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Thesis (M.A.)--McGill University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape11/PQDD%5F0002/MQ43885.pdf.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Comparative Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

From the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, the experiences of predominantly male Chinese migrants in Canada, their relationship with each other, and their interactions with Chinese and Canadian society were influenced by each society's patriarchal nature. Each society had a culturally-specific patriarchal system that perpetuated the interests of a few elite men over other groups and cultures, and each portrayed this group as the masculine ideal. Since each viewed events through this lens, racism frequently took on a gendered language. The construction of culturally-specific notions of gender helped maintain each community's culturally-specific patriarchal system. Furthermore, racialized gender constructs and gendered constructs of race legitimized existing patterns of domination both within each group and in these groups' interactions with each other. This thesis shows that the categories of race and gender were linked and that a feminist approach is useful for the study of immigration history.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Sociology, June 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf xxi-xxiii).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-92). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves xxi-xxiii). Also available in print.

No description available.