Sex Segregation in the U.S. Labor Force

Abstract

This paper examines the structure and development of sex segregation in the U.S. labor force between 1950 and 1979. The findings show that there has been a considerable degree of stability in the overall extent of sex segregation during the postwar period. There has been some tendency for employment in exclusively male occupations to decline as a percentage of the total male labor force, but this has been counterbalanced by a tendency for women workers to become more concentrated in exclusively female occupations. Beneath this overall stability in the extent of sex segregation there are important differences in the patterns of sex segregation in different occupational sectors. In general, there has been a significant decline in the degree of sex segregation in middle-class (i.e., professional, technical and managerial) occupations during the postwar period, while segregation in working-class (i.e., blue-collar and lower whitecollar) occupations has remained stable or increased in some cases. These results are interpreted within the framework of segmented labor market theory and in terms of the differential interests of employers and male employees in the preservation of occupational sex segregation. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these findings for the development of strategies to reduce sex segregation in occupations.