Horizontal and vertical labour market movements in Austria: Do occupational transitions take women across gendered lines?

Abstract

The gendered division of occupations is a persistent characteristic of the Austrian labour market. Furthermore, we can observe more flexible employment biographies, where sequential employment episodes and occupational transitions become an important part. On this account, the article argues that both gender inequalities and labour market movements need to be examined simultaneously. The authors therefore analyse gender-(un)typed horizontal occupational transitions and their influence on the vertical positioning, based on the Austrian Micro Census (2008–2018). The results reveal that gender-typed occupational transitions are regaining relevance and that the gender effect is reversing in that women increasingly leave gender-untyped occupations. The findings also demonstrate that this gender-typed horizontal movement yields a significant decline in occupational status for women, which even increases when women become mothers. Based on their models the authors find no negative effects for fathers.