Question

Read Chapter 11. Read pages 339-341 (Gender Concentration)

What occupations are women most found in American society?

What are some of the reasons why women are found in large concentrations in very few occupations/professions in our society? Why do you think so many jobs are segregated by gender?

2 full paragraphs

Answer 1

In American societies women are mostly seen in occupations such as secretaries, administrative assistants, nurses, psychiatric and home health aides, elementary and middle school teachers and cashiers, retail salespersons, first-line supervisor/ managers of retail sales workers, waitresses, maids and housekeeping cleaners, customer service representatives, child care workers, bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks, receptionists and information clerks, first-line supervisor/ managers of office and administrative support, auditors, cooks, personal and home care aides. In fact, women represent over 80 percent of all those employed in the jobs of secretaries, administrative assistants, and nurses. Even with so much development with technology and society, things haven't changed much for the working woman during the past 50 years.

The feature of occupation segregation based on gender is strongly linked to inequality. The jobs in which most women are concentrated are low paying jobs and require a lot of manual work. Work segregation by gender tends to limit the autonomy, freedom, and recognition accorded to individuals’, not just women but also men. Most strikingly, work segregation by sex both draws upon and in turn contributes to, social ‘stereotypes’. A stereotype is a fixed general image reinforcing the problem of gendered occupational segregation that shapes our expectations about whether a man or a woman is a better “fit” for a given job. These stereotypes influence the chances that a man or a woman will be hired, the pay each would receive and even performance evaluations that determine promotions. For example, when a woman’s set of talents make her well suited to a particular occupation say a firefighter but this occupation is considered to be a ‘man’s job’ as a result she will not pursue that occupation. The same is true of men who wish to pursue occupations that are considered ‘female jobs’. Women have been historically facing limitations to enter the labor markets so occupational segregation as a whole disadvantages women more than men, and this exacerbates inequality.