The intergenerational sources of the U-turn in gender segregation.

In the early 1970s, the balkanization of the US labor market into "men's occupations" and "women's occupations" began to unravel, as women entered the professions and other male-typed sectors in record numbers. This decline in gender segregation continued on for several decades but then suddenly stalled at the turn of the century and shows no signs of resuming. Although the stall is itself undisputed, its sources remain unclear. Using nearly a half-century of data from the General Social Survey, we show that a resurgence in segregation-inducing forms of intergenerational transmission stands behind the recent stall. Far from serving as impartial conduits, fathers are now disproportionately conveying male-typed occupations to their sons, whereas mothers are effectively gender-neutral in their transmission outcomes. This segregative turn among fathers accounts for 47% of the stall in the gender segregation trend (between 2000 and 2018), while the earlier integrative turn among fathers accounts for 34% of the initial downturn in segregation (between 1972 and 1999). It follows that a U-turn in intergenerational processes lies behind the U-turn in gender segregation.

How Gender Segregation in Higher Education Contributes to Gender Segregation in the U.S. Labor Market.

What is the relationship between gender segregation in higher education and gender segregation in the labor market? Using Fossett's (2017) difference-of-means method for calculating segregation indices and data from the American Community Survey, we show that approximately 36% of occupational segregation among college-educated workers is associated with gender segregation across 173 fields of study, and roughly 64% reflects gender segregation within fields. A decomposition analysis shows that fields contribute to occupational segregation mainly through endowment effects (men's and women's uneven distribution across fields) than through the coefficient effects (gender differences in the likelihood of entering a male-dominated occupation from the same field). Endowment effects are highest in fields strongly linked to the labor market, suggesting that educational segregation among fields in which graduates tend to enter a limited set of occupations is particularly consequential for occupational segregation. Within-field occupational segregation is higher among heavily male-dominated fields than other fields, but it does not vary systematically by fields' STEM status or field-occupation linkage strength. Assuming the relationship between field segregation and occupational segregation is at least partly causal, these results imply that integrating higher education (e.g., by increasing women's representation in STEM majors) will reduce but not eliminate gender segregation in labor markets.

Progress toward gender equality in the United States has slowed or stalled.

We examine change in multiple indicators of gender inequality for the period of 1970 to 2018. The percentage of women (age 25 to 54) who are employed rose continuously until ∼2000 when it reached its highest point to date of 75%; it was slightly lower at 73% in 2018. Women have surpassed men in receipt of baccalaureate and doctoral degrees. The degree of segregation of fields of study declined dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s, but little since then. The desegregation of occupations continues but has slowed its pace. Examining the hourly pay of those aged 25 to 54 who are employed full-time, we found that the ratio of women's to men's pay increased from 0.61 to 0.83 between 1970 and 2018, rising especially fast in the 1980s, but much slower since 1990. In sum, there has been dramatic progress in movement toward gender equality, but, in recent decades, change has slowed and on some indicators stalled entirely.

Gender Segregation and Its Correlates at Midlife and Beyond.

We investigated gender segregation and its correlates in the friendships of U.S. adults aged 50-74 years (177 women; 52 men). Gender segregation existed in our midlife sample such that 74% of friend nominations were same gender. Similar to research on other periods of the adult lifespan we found that for women, gender segregation was negatively correlated with competitive activity orientation, positively correlated with beliefs about same-gender peers' communicative responsiveness and negatively correlated with beliefs about other-gender peers' communicative responsiveness. Women's gender segregation was also negatively correlated with masculinity and positively correlated with gender-reference group identity. For men, gender segregation was negatively correlated with beliefs about other-gender peers' communicative responsiveness and positively correlated with gender-reference group identity. Our results suggest that gender segregation continues to exist at midlife and that there is some continuity in the correlates of gender segregation across adulthood.

Bacha posh in Afghanistan: factors associated with raising a girl as a boy.

This paper examines the factors associated with the cultural phenomenon of bacha posh in Afghanistan (in which girls are dressed and raised as boys), which occurs against a background of rigid gender norms and the male-centric nature of Afghan families. Survey data were collected from 1463 women in two provinces of Afghanistan, Kabul and Nangarhar. The primary outcome is a nominal variable, derived from the question, 'Do you have any girl in your family who has been raised for any time as a boy?' Independent variables comprise women's socio-demographic characteristics, family composition, economic characteristics, patriarchal gender attitudes and perceptions of community patriarchal attitudes. Factors associated with bacha posh include women having fewer sons and more daughters, working in the past three months and having less patriarchal gender attitudes. That bacha posh is often driven by a large number of daughters in the family with a corresponding low number of sons suggests that bacha posh is a response to very contextual features of Afghan life, including the preference for sons. Bacha posh in the family is linked to less patriarchal gender norms and can be a way for girls and women to acquire education, mobility and engagement in income-generating activities.

Qualitative study of socio-cultural challenges in the nursing profession in Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: In a patriarchal social system, a women-dominated profession like nursing is mostly seen as a disempowered group due to its stereotypical image and negative connotations. The low social prestige of this profession is based on the roles typically assigned to men and women to maintain gender identity according to their performance and embodiment. The aim of this study was to explore the social and cultural challenges faced by nurses while creating their professional image within the regional context of Lahore (Punjab) in Pakistan. METHODS: A qualitative research design was chosen to conduct one-to-one, in-depth interviews with twelve nurses. Recruitment was based on purposive sampling from three large public hospitals in Lahore to learn about nurses' perceptions of social and cultural challenges in the nursing profession. A thematic analysis was conducted using the data analysis software package NVivo 12 Plus. RESULTS: Cultural values give preference for female nurses. We have identified four major themes related to the social and cultural challenges facing the nursing profession: 1) gender-segregated profession, 2) inappropriate portrayals by the media, 3) issues around marriage settlement, and 4) identity from a religious perspective. These conflicts are affecting the professional status and changing perceptions of nurses, who either do not choose to remain in the nursing profession or do not recommend nursing as a career option. These ongoing constraints are still perpetuating and increasing shortage of nurses within the Pakistani healthcare system. CONCLUSION: The present study solely highlights nurses' perspectives on redefining gender roles and gender integration within the nursing profession. It argues that there is a need for positive portrayals in the media for the removal of public misperceptions related to nursing. This would reduce the shortage of nurses along with increasing retention and improving the quality of healthcare delivered to the public.

Gender segregation of occupations and sustainable employment: A prospective population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Although the labour market is characterized by a strong numerical gender segregation of occupations, there is little knowledge about the associations of this with the future labour market situation for an individual person. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to elucidate whether working in a gender-segregated or gender-integrated occupation is associated with future labour market attachment and sickness absence or disability pensions among women and men. METHODS: We used a population-based prospective cohort study with univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses stratified by gender, including all people living in Sweden aged 20-56 years and in paid work in 2003 ( n=3,239,989). They were followed up eight years later with regard to employment status, sickness absence and disability pension. RESULTS: Women and men employed in extremely female-dominated occupations in 2003 had the highest employment levels and the lowest unemployment levels at follow up in 2011. When adjusting for age, level of education and sector of employment, the highest odds ratios (ORs) for not being employed in 2011 were found for women working in extremely male-dominated occupations in 2003 (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.21-1.33) and for men in female-dominated occupations (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.39-1.45) relative to those in gender-integrated occupations. Women in extremely male-dominated occupations had the highest ORs for sickness absence or the receipt of a disability pension at follow up (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.17-1.36) and men in female-dominated occupations had the highest OR 1.15 (95% CI 1.11-1.20). CONCLUSIONS: For both women and men, the gender composition of the occupation they work in seems to be of importance for their future labour market attachment and sickness absence or receipt of a disability pension.

Changes in the gender segregation of occupations in Sweden between 2003 and 2011.

AIM: The aim of this study was to analyze possible changes in the gender composition of occupations in Sweden, using register data covering the whole working population. METHODS: Cross tabulations on gender by occupation were computed and comparisons made of numbers and proportions of women and men aged 20-64 years to illustrate occupational gender-segregation categories in 2003 and 2011, respectively. All of those in working ages, employed in 2003 and 2011 (4.2 resp 4.7 millions individuals), were included. Differences in the distribution of women and men in all occupations were summarized using two gender-segregation indexes from 2003 and 2011, separately. RESULTS: The proportion of women increased in the gender-integrated (⩾40-<60% women) occupations. Also, the proportion of women in high-skilled professional occupations in the male-dominated category increased, as well as the proportion of men in mostly low-skilled female-dominated occupations, mainly in the service sector. The gender-segregation of occupations measured by the Index of Dissimilarly and the Karmel and MacLachlan Index was lower in 2011 than in 2003. CONCLUSIONS: The process of de-segregation has continued during our study period, from 2003 to 2011. The proportion of women increased in occupations that demand higher education, both in gender-integrated and in male-dominated occupations, which can contribute to a decrease in the level of sickness absence for women. Men increased their proportion in low-skilled, female-dominated occupations - a group with high levels of sickness absence or disability pension.

A Second Look at the Process of Occupational Feminization and Pay Reduction in Occupations.

Using the IPUMS-USA data for the years 1960-2015, this study examines trends in the effect of occupational feminization on occupational pay in the U.S. labor market and explores some of the mechanisms underlying these trends. The findings show that the (negative) association between occupational feminization and occupational pay level has declined, becoming insignificent in 2015. This trend, however, is reversed after education is controlled for at the individual as well as the occupational level. The two opposite trends are discussed in light of the twofold effect of education: (1) the entry of women into occupations requiring high education, and (2) the growing returns to education and to occupations with higher educational requirements. These two processes have concealed the deterioration in occupational pay following feminization. The findings underscore the significance of structural forms of gender inequality in general, and occupational devaluation in particular.

Female dietary bias towards large migratory moths in the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis).

In bats, sexual segregation has been described in relation to differential use of roosting and foraging habitats. It is possible that variation may also exist between genders in the use of different prey types. However, until recently this idea was difficult to test owing to poorly resolved taxonomy of dietary studies. Here, we use high-throughput sequencing to describe gender-related variation in diet composition of the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis), while controlling for effects of age and season. We analysed guano pellets collected from 143 individuals mist-netted from April to October 2012 and 2013, in northeast Portugal. Moths (Lepidoptera; mainly Noctuidae and Geometridae) were by far the most frequently recorded prey, occurring in nearly all samples and accounting for 96 out of 115 prey taxa. There were significant dietary differences between males and females, irrespective of age and season. Compared to males, females tended to consume larger moths and more moths of migratory behaviour (e.g.Autographa gamma). Our study provides the first example of gender-related dietary variation in bats, illustrating the value of novel molecular tools for revealing intraspecific variation in food resource use in bats and other insectivores.

Gender segregation as a benefit - a qualitative study from Pakistan.

AIM: To explore the possibility of exploiting gender segregation as a benefit for registered female nurses. BACKGROUND: Nursing is a highly gendered profession in Pakistan with 95% of nurses comprising females who suffer from low professional status, negative identity and unfavourable work environments. METHODS: A qualitative research design was used to interview 12 nurses in management positions through purposive sampling. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted to explore the views of female nurses on the benefits, if any, of gender segregation in the nursing profession. RESULTS: Content analysis identified three major categories of benefits of gender segregation for female nurses including: (1) demand for female nurses compared with demand for males, (2) resilience of female nurses in the face of difficult work environments and (3) comfort and safety of female co-workers in a male-dominated setting. CONCLUSION: Realising the benefits of gender segregation could mobilise nurse teamwork and union efforts in order to improve nurse identity, professional status and work environments. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSE MANAGEMENT: The present study highlights the nurse manager role in advancing knowledge of gender segregation benefits, team-building for gender solidarity, control of nurse supply, union mobilization and raising community awareness for women's health development.

Workplace sex composition and ischaemic heart disease: A longitudinal analysis using Swedish register data.

AIMS: The aim of this study is to follow-up on previous research indicating that the sex composition of workplaces is related to a number of health outcomes, including sickness absenteeism and mortality. We test two hypotheses. The first is Kanter's theory of tokenism, which suggests that minority group members suffer from an increased risk of stress. Secondly, we test the hypothesis that workplaces with a higher proportion of men will have a higher incidence rate of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), as men are more likely to engage in negative health behaviours, and through peer effects this will result in a workplace culture that is detrimental to health over the long term. METHODS: Large-scale, longitudinal Swedish administrative register data are used to study the risk of overnight hospitalization for IHD amongst 67,763 men over the period 1990 to 2001. Discrete-time survival analyses were estimated in the form of logistic regression models. RESULTS: Men have an elevated risk of suffering from IHD in non-gender-balanced workplaces, but this association was only statistically significant in workplaces with 61-80% and 81-100% males. However, after adjusting for occupation no clear pattern of association could be discerned. No pattern of association was observed for women. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the gender composition of workplaces is not strongly associated with the risk of suffering from IHD.

Exploring the Gender Gap in Teleworking from Home. The Roles of Worker's Characteristics, Occupational Positions and Gender Equality in Europe.

Previous research suggests an under-representation of women among teleworkers before the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we know little about whether such a gender gap was substantial, and whether it could be explained by occupational gender segregation. We explore whether a gender gap in regularly teleworking existed in the EU-28 and analyse its possible constituents, drawing on data from the European Working Conditions Survey 2015. To form a group of potential teleworkers, the analytical sample was restricted to employees who made use of information and communication technology (N ≈ 16,000). Country fixed effects regression and multilevel models were applied. The results show that women were under-represented among teleworkers compared to men, also when occupational gender segregation is taken into account; the remaining gender gap in telework is estimated at 10%. For women, working part-time and working in the private sector was associated with lower incidences of telework, but not for men. Country characteristics explain a small but significant share of telework incidence. In countries that rank high on the Gender Equality Index and have a large public sector, telework was widespread, whereas it was less present in countries with higher shares of women in the fields of science and engineering. The findings support the view that the gender gap in teleworking from home is a matter of historically grown gender inequality. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11205-023-03133-6.

Gender typicality of occupational aspirations among immigrant and native youth: the role of gender ideology, educational aspirations, and work values.

The gender typicality of adolescents' occupational aspirations helps sustain occupational segregation, ultimately contributing to maintain gender stratification. According to sociological and psychological perspectives, adolescents develop occupational aspirations by drawing on their gender beliefs and work-related values. Yet few empirical studies have examined the contribution of these value orientations specifically to the gender typicality of occupational aspirations. Moreover, although children from immigrant backgrounds make up an ever-increasing share of school-age students, there is scant evidence on the gender typicality of their occupational aspirations relative to those of their majority peers. This study investigates variations in the gender typicality of occupational aspirations among adolescents from immigrant and non-immigrant backgrounds at around age 16. It also explores how the gender typicality of different groups' aspired occupations relates to differences in gender ideologies, in educational aspirations, and in the importance attributed to three work values: the possibility to earn high income, to help others, and to think and solve problems. Drawing on a harmonized survey from England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, the analysis uses a sample of 8,574 adolescents, including 1,510 girls and 1,336 boys from immigrant backgrounds. Multinomial logistic regressions estimated the associations with aspired occupations, classified as masculine, integrated, feminine or ultrafeminine based on the proportion of women working in them. Results indicate that boys and girls of immigrant origin aspired to somewhat less gender-typical occupations than their majority peers. Among girls, these differences would be even larger if they were not suppressed by the more traditional gender ideologies held by girls from immigrant backgrounds. In terms of mediating mechanisms, our findings suggest that more ambitious educational aspirations may partly explain these differences. These findings indicate that distinguishing between multiple dimensions of adolescents' work-related values hint at different underlying mechanisms in the formation of adolescents' occupational aspirations.

The impact of guidance counselling on gender segregation: Major choice and persistence in higher education. An experimental study.

Gender segregation in higher education is considered one of the main drivers of persistent economic gender inequality. Yet, though there has been considerable research identifying and describing the underlying mechanisms that cause gendered educational choices in higher education, little is known about how gender segregation in higher education could be changed. Accordingly, this article aims to determine the potential of educational interventions during high school to foster gender desegregation in higher education. We focused on two different processes that contribute to gender segregation in majors among higher education graduates: first, the selection into specific majors and, second, the selection out of specific majors. We investigated whether an intensive counselling programme leads to more gender-atypical choices among high-school graduates and examined whether intensive counselling supports several indicators of students' persistence in gender-atypical majors. Based on data from an experimental study of a counselling programme for German high-school students (N = 625), we estimated the programme's effect with linear probability models and intention-to-treat analysis. Our results show that high-school graduates are more likely to choose a gender-atypical major if they have received intensive counselling. This applies more to men than to women. In addition, the programme improved some persistence indicators for students in gender-atypical majors. Although we found a significant programme effect only for perceived person-major fit and student satisfaction, the coefficients of all aspects of students' persistence show a trend indicating that the programme was beneficial for students in gender-atypical majors. As experimental studies can also be affected by various types of bias, we performed several robustness checks. All analyses indicated stable results. In conclusion, we suggest that intensive counselling programmes have the potential to reduce gender segregation in higher education. More students were motivated to choose a gender-atypical major, and different aspects of student persistence were supported by the programme for students in gender-atypical majors.

Girls, girls, girls: Gender composition and female school choice.

Gender segregation in employment may be explained by women's reluctance to choose technical occupations. However, the foundations for career choices are laid much earlier. Educational experts claim that female students are doing better in math and science and are more likely to choose these subjects if they are in single-sex classes. One possible explanation is that coeducational settings reinforce gender stereotypes. In this paper, we identify the causal impact of the gender composition in coeducational classes on the choice of school type for female students. Using natural variation in the gender composition of adjacent cohorts within schools, we show that girls are less likely to choose a traditionally female dominated school type and more likely to choose a male dominated school type at the age of 14 if they were exposed to a higher share of girls in previous grades.

Upgrading or Polarizing? Gendered Patterns of Change in the Occupational Prestige Hierarchy Between 1997 and 2015.

This article contributes to the discussion on how the Swedish labor market is changing: is it upgrading or polarizing? Drawing on the Swedish Labor Force Survey the study examines the overall changes in the occupational job structure in Sweden by exploring how women and men were distributed within the occupational prestige hierarchy at two points of time, 1997 and 2015. The results show that changes in the labor market have resulted in different patterns of how women and men are distributed within the occupational prestige hierarchy. Women have an upgrading movement and have entered high-prestige occupations, while men have been subjected to job polarization, with an increase in employment in low-prestige occupations, as well as high-prestige ones.

Language and gender: Computerized text analyses predict gender ratios from organizational descriptions.

Previous research has shown that language in job adverts implicitly communicates gender stereotypes, which, in turn, influence employees' perceived fit with the job. In this way, language both reflects and maintains a gender segregated job market. The aim of this study was to test whether, and how, language in organizational descriptions reflects gender segregation in the organizations by the use of computational text analyses. We analyzed large Swedish companies' organizational descriptions from LinkedIn (N = 409), testing whether the language in the organizational descriptions is associated with the organizations' employee gender ratio, and how organizational descriptions for organizations with a majority of women and men employees differ. The statistical analyses showed that language in the organizational descriptions predicted the employee gender ratio in organizations well. Word clouds depicting words that differentiate between organizations with a majority of women and men employees showed that the language of organizations with a higher percentage of women employees was characterized by a local focus and emphasis on within-organizations relations, whereas the language of organizations with a higher percentage of men employees was characterized by an international focus and emphasis on sales and customer relations. These results imply that the language in organizational descriptions reflects gender segregation and stereotypes that women are associated with local and men with global workplaces. As language communicates subtle signals in regards to what potential candidate is most sought after in recruitment situations, differences in organizational descriptions can hinder underrepresented gender groups to apply to these jobs. As a consequence, such practices may contribute to gender segregation on the job market.

Differentiations in Visibility-Male Advantages and Female Disadvantages in Gender-Segregated Programmes.

This article stresses the importance of understanding that women and men in gender-segregated programmes experience their gender minority positions very differently. It stems from an interest in the kind of interventions that academia should address in order to reduce gender segregation and provide women and men with the same educational opportunities and personal development. In relation to the obvious and continuing gender differences along a horizontal dimension, previous research seems to have had a limited impact in breaking gender stereotypes and promoting women and men to more atypical fields. The empirical data consists of 25 semi-structured, individual interviews from underrepresented students' gender-related experiences/thoughts about their programmes. By using the concepts of "visibility," "sense of belonging," and "negotiating otherness" to analyze how negotiation and belonging are part of students' everyday university lives this study's most important contributions are its findings regarding the differentiations in visibility. A continuum of visibility experiences is explored, from men who receive positive attention to women who are being considered as less knowledgeable. Our visibility scale indicates, as does previous research, that there are differences between how female and male students become visible, but the differences can also appear within both groups of students. This knowledge is crucial when designing interventions so as to provide positive study environments for both women and men. Also-in a broader perspective-it is important in order to recruit and ensure that gender minority students remain in the programs.

Age, period, and cohort effects for future employment, sickness absence, and disability pension by occupational gender segregation: a population-based study of all employed people in a country (> 3 million).

OBJECTIVES: The occupational gender segregation of the labour market is very strong, both in Sweden and in North America. Nevertheless, there is little knowledge on how this is associated with employees' future employment or morbidity. The objectives of this study were to explore age, period, and cohort effects on future employment and morbidity in terms of sickness absence (SA) or disability pension (DP) among women and men employed in numerically gender-segregated or gender-integrated occupations. METHODS: Based on Swedish nationwide register data, three population-based cohorts of all people living in Sweden, with a registered occupation, and aged 20-56 years at inclusion in 1985 (N = 3,183,549), 1990 (N = 3,372,152), or 2003 (N = 3,565,579), respectively, were followed prospectively for 8 years each. First, descriptive statistics of employment and SA/DP at follow-up were calculated, related to level of gender segregation/integration of occupation at inclusion. Second, differences between birth cohorts (those born in 1929-1983, respectively) were estimated within each of the periods 1985-1993, 1990-1998, and 2003-2011, using mean polish analyses. RESULTS: Women and men in gender-segregated occupations differed in relation to future employment rates and SA/DP. However, these differences decreased over time. Furthermore, the results show a birth cohort effect; those born in 1943-1956 remained in employment to a higher extent and also had lower rates of SA/DP than all other birth cohorts. CONCLUSION: Differences between people in the five categories of gender-segregated occupations decreased over time. Although age and period are important when explaining the outcome, also birth cohort effects have to be considered, both from a public and an occupational health perspective.