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Title: Gender Inequality: Occupational Devaluation and Pay Gaps

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2019

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Abstract: The theoretical argument for understanding long-term trends of the association between feminisation and occupational pay rests on a distinction between two processes related to gender inequality, that have occurred in recent decades in the labour markets of most western democracies. The first process, which relates to women as individuals, addresses the upward occupational mobility of women, meaning that women are incrementally entering higher rungs of the occupational hierarchy. The second process-which is conceptualized as a structural process-refers to the criteria for rewarding occupations. The question in this regard is whether gender is one of the criteria and if so whether occupations are devaluated following the entry of women. The literature documenting long-term trends in gender inequality has tended to focus heavily on the former-i.e. the upward occupational mobility of women on the occupational ladder. The latter, i.e. the structural implications are largely overlooked. However, the two are inherently connected, as a notable consequence of the growing occupational attainments of women over recent decades is evident in the way occupational feminisation affects the pay level of occupations. Although a considerable amount of research has highlighted the negative association between the percentage of women in occupations and their rewards, most of these studies have focused on the causal mechanisms of the process rather than on the dynamics over an extended period of time. Prof Hadas Mandel sought to address this lacuna in the literature by examining trends in the effect of occupational feminisation on occupational pay over several decades in the US and exploring the mechanisms underlying these trends. Using integrated data on individuals and occupations from the US Census (1960-2010) and the ACS surveys (2001-2015), her findings show, similarly to previous studies, that in recent decades, and especially from 1980 onwards, a growing number of women in the US have approached the head of the occupational ladder (see the first figure below). This shift has been fuelled by women's growing educational attainments, which, together with the rising economic premium to education, have greatly contributed to the decline in gender wage gaps. Furthermore, based on these changes, the negative association between female percentage in Gender inequality: occupational devaluation and pay gaps The comparative research of long-term trends of gender inequality largely neglects structural mechanisms. As more women reach positions of power, structural elements will become more significant. Despite the growing body of literature in this area, the long-term effect of the changing gender composition of occupations on their relative pay has been largely neglected. Hadas Mandel, an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Tel Aviv University, has addressed this gap in the literature by exploring the negative effect of occupational feminisation on occupational pay in the US and the mechanisms underlying these trends. Behavioural Sciences-occupations and occupational pay levels declines over time (see model 1 in the second figure below). This decline is most apparent from 1980 onward, a period in which US women witnessed a significant improvement in their occupational standing, and a period where occupations requiring higher education enjoyed a large wage premium. However, when examining the effect of gender composition of the occupation after accounting for women's higher education and for the level of education in occupations, the trend is reversed; the negative net effect of female percentage on occupational pay intensifies over time (see model 2 in the second figure below). These two opposite processes reflect the upward occupational mobility of women, on the one hand, and its gendered consequences, on the other hand. The major role education plays in explaining the divergent trends is twofold. The entry of women into occupations requiring higher education, and the growing economic reward to high education and to occupations with higher educational requirements, may both conceal the trend in the devaluation effect as they contribute to weakening the correlation between the percentage of women and pay across occupations over the course of time. Thus, the intensification of the devaluation effect is revealed only after controlling for education (at both the occupational and individual level), because the growing educational level of women, and the growing rewards to education, are processes that run counter to devaluation and thus conceal its intensification. Let's consider the example of industrial engineers and electrical engineers. Both occupations demand high education (more than 70% of incumbent workers in 2010 had an academic degree), and both enjoyed a wage premium during the period studied. However, while in both occupations the percentage of women in 1960 was negligible (2% and 1%, respectively), 50 years later only 10% of electrical engineers were women, compared to 19%-almost double-of industrial engineers. As both occupations enjoyed wage premiums, the devaluation effects may not be observed because the process of feminization was not followed by an absolute wage reduction. Rather, feminization is associated with a smaller wage premium relative to comparable highly educated occupations. Thus controlling for education is essential for revealing the devaluation process. Indeed, we see that while electrical engineers enjoyed a premium of 25% during the period studied, industrial engineers enjoyed a premium of less than 19%. The findings demonstrate the interrelationship between two opposing gendered processes and provide concrete evidence that gender stratification operates differently at the individual and at the structural/ occupational level. The split between individual and occupational forms of gender in/equality and the divergent trend of each are crucial for our understanding of gender inequality in theory as well as in practice. This is because structural mechanisms are not directed at any specific individual and thus are more ambiguous and more difficult to track empirically. The danger is Structural mechanisms of gender/race inequality are not directed at any specific individual and thus are more ambiguous and more difficult to track empirically. Professor Hadas Mandel Trends in female proportion in occupations by levels of average occupational pay. 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 Low pay Tertile Mid pay Tertile High pay Tertile Trends in the effect of gender composition (% female) on the average pay of occupations, before (Model 1) and after (Models 2) accounting for education.

Url: https://cdn2.researchoutreach.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Hadas-Mandel.pdf

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Authors: Mandel, Hadas

Publisher: Tel Aviv University

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Gender, Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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