The Duncan Segregation Index is a measure of occupational segregation based on gender that measures whether there is a larger than expected presence of one gender over another in a given occupation or labor force by identifying the percentage of employed women (or men) who would have to change occupations for the occupational distribution of men and women to be equal. A Duncan Segregation Index value of 0 occurs when the share of women in every occupation is the same as women's share of employment as a whole. In other words, 0 indicates perfect gender integration within the workforce, while a value of 1 indicates complete gender segregation within the workforce. [1]
In 1955, Otis Dudley Duncan, a professor at the University of Chicago at the time, [2] and Beverly Duncan published "A Methodological Analysis of Segregation Indices," [3] in the American Sociological Review. [4] The Article investigated many different potential measurements of segregation and concluded that the Index of Dissimilarity, also known as the Duncan Segregation Index, was the best measure of occupational segregation. [4] [3] [5] Given the Duncan Segregation Index's clear properties and use of only male and female populations, Duncan and Duncan concluded that the index of dissimilarity was the easiest measure of segregation to calculate. [6]
The Duncan Segregation index is an example of an index of dissimilarity and is calculated using the following formula: [7]
Historically, men and women have worked in separate sectors of the economy. Women are associated with pink-collar jobs, while men are associated with blue/white-collar jobs, making it difficult for women to transcend across those job categories. [8] Employment stereotypes have made it difficult for men and women to work particular jobs, as there is still a strong social belief that men belong in certain employment areas, while women belong in others. [9]
A second theory states that men and women have different tastes for different jobs. This theory proposes the idea that women are more likely to choose family-oriented jobs because that is what women are naturally inclined towards. [10] This theory is highly controversial as women are associated with staying at home, working child/sibling care jobs, and partaking in other home related activities. [11]
A third theory deals with employer's attitudes to workers. Some employers view women as weak, emotional, and submissive, while they view men as aggressive, decisive, and strong. Thus, they see the sexes as suited for different types of work. [11]
Occupational segregation by gender declined rapidly from 0.65 in 1970 to 0.54 in 1990. Little progress has been made since 2000. [12] These declines were primarily due to women entering formerly predominantly male occupations. Despite this decline, labor force gender segregation is still evident in today's labor market.
Duncan Segregation Index in various jobs within the United States (numbers range on a scale from 0 to 1, where 0 = perfect equality and 1= perfect inequality)
Male Dominance:
Roofers: 0.97
Lawyers: 0.33
Taxi drivers: 0.77
Athletes: 0.60
Physicians: 0.36
Women Dominance:
Nurses: 0.82
Social Workers: 0.39
Hairdressers: 0.78
Legal Assistants: 0.68
Statistics from University of North Texas [12]
Altogether, the Duncan Index of dissimilarity has decreased in the United States over the past four decades. This is true for both college graduates, as well as non-college educated people. People who have completed at least four years of college experience less sex segregation than those who have not. However, the rate of decrease of segregation is similar for all education levels. [13]
In the US, women are underrepresented in fields including technical operation, engineering, and craft. Conversely, women make up the majority of workers in fields like childcare, health related occupations, and education. In the aforementioned occupations, there has been little change in the index of dissimilarity in the time period between 1972 and 2012. Over the course of those four decades, these occupations have remained consistently and highly segregated. [13]
On the other hand, several occupations such as bus drivers, pharmacists, and photographers have seen significant reduction in their segregation over the past four decades, with an index of dissimilarity approaching 0 over time. Other occupations like physicians, lawyers, and mail carriers have also seen reduced segregation, but have not yet come near a segregation index of 0. Altogether, certain occupations that are still seen as traditionally male or female have not seen any significant change in occupational segregation. [13]
While the Duncan Index of dissimilarity is primarily used to analyze segregation within the US, it has been adopted by other countries to measure gender segregation within the workplace as well. [14]
For example, a report released by the European Commission's Expert Group on Gender and Employment used the Duncan Segregation Index and the Karmel and Maclachlan Index to monitor and compare trends of gender- based, occupational segregation across 27 European Union member states, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Studies followed both the occupational and sectoral areas of the labor market from the year 1997 to 2007. [15]
Overall, the studies found minimal change in the high level of gender- based segregation in the workplace and that if anything, countries have experienced a slight increase. It is such a small shift however, around a 1% increase, that these findings are not necessarily cause for concern. Results show that the top four countries within the study that display the highest segregation rates are Estonia, Slovakia, Latvia and Finland. On the other hand, the countries with the lowest segregation rates turned out to be Greece, Romania, Malta and Italy. [15]
Gender- based segregation quantified using the Duncan Segregation Index:
| 1997 (occupational) | 2007 (occupational) | 1997 (sectoral) | 2007 (sectoral) | |
| Estonia | .618 | .643 | .435 | .522 |
| Slovakia | .630 | .614 | .429 | .470 |
| Latvia | .539 | .603 | .322 | .470 |
| Finland | .599 | .592 | .440 | .460 |
| Malta | N/A | .535 | N/A | .339 |
| Italy | .466 | .494 | .322 | .372 |
| România | .431 | .472 | .294 | .324 |
| Greece | .453 | .468 | .320 | .334 |
General causes for international trends of gender- based, occupational segregation are noted as education, hours of work based on family commitment, gender stereotypes and implicit barriers that make upward job mobility difficult. These reasons align with previously mentioned theories regarding the Duncan Segregation Index. [15]
“Mommy Track” is the path where a woman prioritizes taking care of her children over focusing on her career. [16] Children can hold a woman back from advancing in the workplace, thus contributing to workplace inequality among women. [17] Going on maternity leave often results in receiving less work, as well as dead assignments from their employers once they return, negatively affecting women's experience in the labor market. Women are not able to dedicate as much time to their career as men are, leaving them victim to wage discrimination, and therefore, more segregation in the labor market. For example, compared to men, married women have a 12% lower probably to obtain a tenure track. [18] Many women believe the Mommy Track negatively affects their career, so they avoid having children, or they limit the extent of their child rearing. [19] Many women also do not receive cash benefits for maternity leave. The U.S., Oman, and Papua New Guinea are three countries that do not provide financial support for maternity leave. [20]
Sex segregation, sex separation, gender segregation or gender separation is the physical, legal, or cultural separation of people according to their biological sex at any age. Sex segregation can refer simply to the physical and spatial separation by sex without any connotation of illegal discrimination. In other circumstances, sex segregation can be controversial. Depending on the circumstances, it can be a violation of capabilities and human rights and can create economic inefficiencies; on the other hand, some supporters argue that it is central to certain religious laws and social and cultural histories and traditions.
A glass ceiling is a metaphor usually applied to people of marginalized genders, used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents an oppressed demographic from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy. No matter how invisible the glass ceiling is expressed, it is actually an obstacle difficult to overcome. The metaphor was first used by feminists in reference to barriers in the careers of high-achieving women. It was coined by Marilyn Loden during a speech in 1978.
Emotional labor is the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job. More specifically, workers are expected to regulate their personas during interactions with customers, co-workers, clients, and managers. This includes analysis and decision-making in terms of the expression of emotion, whether actually felt or not, as well as its opposite: the suppression of emotions that are felt but not expressed. This is done so as to produce a certain feeling in the customer or client that will allow the company or organization to succeed.
A pink-collar worker is someone working in the care-oriented career field or in fields historically considered to be women's work. This may include jobs in the beauty industry, nursing, social work, teaching, secretarial work, upholstery, or child care. While these jobs may also be filled by men, they have historically been female-dominated and may pay significantly less than white-collar or blue-collar jobs.
Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, gender, sex, religion, national origin, and physical or mental disability. State and local laws often protect additional characteristics such as marital status, veteran status and caregiver/familial status. Earnings differentials or occupational differentiation—where differences in pay come from differences in qualifications or responsibilities—should not be confused with employment discrimination. Discrimination can be intended and involve disparate treatment of a group or be unintended, yet create disparate impact for a group.
The gender pay gap in the United States is a measure between the earnings of male and females in the workforce. When calculating the pay gap, non-adjusted versus adjusted pay gap is utilized. The adjusted pay gap takes into consideration the differences in hours worked, occupations chosen, education and job experience, whereas the non-adjusted pay gap is the overall difference of gross hourly earnings of males and females in the United States. The non-adjusted average female annual salary is around 80% of the average male salary, compared to 95% for the adjusted average salary.
A mommy track is a path in a woman's life that puts priority to being a mother. It can also specifically refer to work arrangements for women in the workforce that facilitate motherhood, such as flexible hours, but at the same time usually provides fewer opportunities for career advancement. References to the mommy track often go along with being a housewife, "opting out" of the workforce, temporarily or even permanently. Women following the mommy track may be contrasted to career women who prioritize their careers more than having children.
In sociology, feminization is the shift in gender roles and sex roles in a society, group, or organization towards a focus upon the feminine. It can also mean the incorporation of women into a group or a profession that was once dominated by men.
Since the industrial revolution, participation of women in the workforce outside the home has increased in industrialized nations, with particularly large growth seen in the 20th century. Largely seen as a boon for industrial society, women in the workforce contribute to a higher national economic output as measure in GDP as well as decreasing labor costs by increasing the labor supply in a society.
Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which people are not treated equally on the basis of gender. This inequality can be caused by gender discrimination or sexism. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empirically grounded, while others appear to be social constructs. While current policies around the world cause inequality among individuals, it is women who are most affected. Gender inequality weakens women in many areas such as health, education, and business life. Studies show the different experiences of genders across many domains including education, life expectancy, personality, interests, family life, careers, and political affiliation. Gender inequality is experienced differently across different cultures and also affects non-binary people.
Barbara Reskin is a professor of sociology. As the S. Frank Miyamoto Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington, Reskin studies labor market stratification, examining job queues, nonstandard work, sex segregation, and affirmative action policies in employment and university admissions, mechanisms of work-place discrimination, and the role of credit markets in income poverty and inequality.
Occupational inequality is the unequal treatment of people based on gender, sexuality, age, disability, socioeconomic status, religion, height, weight, accent, or ethnicity in the workplace. When researchers study trends in occupational inequality they usually focus on distribution or allocation pattern of groups across occupations, for example, the distribution of men compared to women in a certain occupation. Secondly, they focus on the link between occupation and income, for example, comparing the income of whites with blacks in the same occupation.
Occupational segregation is the distribution of workers across and within occupations, based upon demographic characteristics, most often gender. Other types of occupational segregation include racial and ethnicity segregation, and sexual orientation segregation. These demographic characteristics often intersect. While a job refers to an actual position in a firm or industry, an occupation represents a group of similar jobs that require similar skill requirements and duties. Many occupations are segregated within themselves because of the differing jobs, but this is difficult to detect in terms of occupational data. Occupational segregation compares different groups and their occupations within the context of the entire labor force. The value or prestige of the jobs are typically not factored into the measurements.
The feminization of the workplace is the feminization, or the shift in gender roles and sex roles and the incorporation of women into a group or a profession once dominated by men, as it relates to the workplace. It is a set of social theories seeking to explain occupational gender-related discrepancies.
Structural inequality occurs when the fabric of organizations, institutions, governments or social networks contains an embedded cultural, linguistic, economic, religious/belief, physical or identity based bias which provides advantages for some members and marginalizes or produces disadvantages for other members. This can involve, personal agency, freedom of expression, property rights, freedom of association, religious freedom,social status, or unequal access to health care, housing, education, physical, cultural, social, religious or political belief, financial resources or other social opportunities. Structural inequality is believed to be an embedded part of all known cultural groups. The global history of slavery, serfdom, indentured servitude and other forms of coerced cultural or government mandated labour or economic exploitation that marginalizes individuals and the subsequent suppression of human rights are key factors defining structural inequality. In particular the history of oppression of the Jewish people, as victims of historic and ongoing antisemitism that dates back to their slavery under the Pharaohs offer an example of the historic nature and wide variance of structural inequality.
In Russia the wage gap exists and statistical analysis shows that most of it cannot be explained by lower qualifications of women compared to men. On the other hand, occupational segregation by gender and labor market discrimination seem to account for a large share of it.
The social and economic changes in Thailand in the past decades have important implications for the quality and quantity of labor. The economic and non-economic roles of women in Thailand can be traced back several hundred years in Thai history, when there were traditional discriminatory attitudes towards women in the culture of Thailand. The transformation of Thailand's social and economic structure since the 1960s led to the gender disparities in Thai society. Recently, the position of Thai women in the labor market has improved a lot in comparison to the past as a result of modernization. In 2011, Thailand ranked 69th out of 143 countries in the Gender Inequality Index. In labor economics, gender inequality is widely discussed in terms of concepts of sex segregation and employment discrimination. Thai government and non-governmental organizations have put forth many policies and programs to address gender inequalities in the last few decades.
Gender inequality in the United States has been diminishing throughout its history and significant advancements towards equality have been made beginning mostly in the early 1900s. However, despite this progress, gender inequality in the United States continues to persist in many forms, including the disparity in women's political representation and participation, occupational segregation, and the unequal distribution of household labor. The alleviation of gender inequality has been the goal of several major pieces of legislation since 1920 and continues to the present day. As of 2021, the World Economic Forum ranks the United States 30th in terms of gender equality out of 149 countries.
The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are working. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. There are two distinct numbers regarding the pay gap: non-adjusted versus adjusted pay gap. The latter typically takes into account differences in hours worked, occupations chosen, education and job experience. In the United States, for example, the non-adjusted average woman's annual salary is 79–83% of the average man's salary, compared to 95–99% for the adjusted average salary.
The maternal wall is a term referring to stereotypes and various forms of discrimination encountered by working mothers and mothers seeking employment. Women hit the maternal wall when they encounter workplace discrimination because of past, present, or future pregnancies or because they have taken one or more maternity leaves. Women may also be discriminated against when they opt for part-time or flexible work schedules. Maternal wall discrimination is not limited to childcare responsibilities. Both men and women with caregiving responsibilities, such as taking care of a sick parents or spouse, may also result in maternal wall discrimination. As such, maternal wall discrimination is also described as family responsibilities discrimination. Research suggests that the maternal wall is cemented by employer stereotypes and gender expectations.
