The purpose of this study is to analyze the sources
of occupational segregation between men and women.
Specifically, three hypotheses are tested. First, do
stiff specific training requirements for an occupation
increase the likelihood that it is male-dominated, as
would be expected from human capital theory? Second,
do differences in perceived natural ability between the
sexes heavily influence the possibility of an occupation
being male- or female-dominated? Finally, do
differences in preferences for job attributes between
men and women influence the chance of whether an occupation
will be male- or female-dominated?
The data used in this study cover 495 occupations
from 1979 in which on-the-job worker requirements are
provided describing workers' level and type of education,
natural ability, on-the-job environmental conditions,
and physical demands. Occupations are divided
into three categories: female-dominated, male-dominated,
or neutral. The empirical model uses a multinomial
approach to estimate the log of the odds that an
occupation is male-dominated relative to being neutral
and the log of the odds that an occupation is female-dominated
relative to being neutral.
The results of this study imply that sizable specific
training requirements for an occupation increase
the likelihood that it is male-dominated and higher
levels of general education requirements increase the
possibility that an occupation is female-dominated.
There is evidence to support the hypothesis that differences
between the sexes' perceived abilities contribute
to occupational segregation. Most on-the-job
environmental conditions and physical demands do not
affect the likelihood that an occupation is male- or
female-dominated in contrast to the traditional claim
that women prefer more desirable working conditions
than men. / Graduation date: 1994
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/35752 |
| Date | 16 September 1993 |
| Creators | Knudson, Rebecca A. |
| Contributors | Tremblay, Carol Horton |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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