Explanations of Continuing Occupational Segregation and Identification of Potential Levers for Change

Abstract

The statistics examined in Chapter 1 are reminders that gender is a fundamental feature around which the labour force is fragmented. The horizontal segregation of labour markets into male-dominated and female-dominated occupations, and the vertical segregation of occupations, with women generally concentrated at the bottom of occupational hierarchies, continues. Therefore, the first section of this chapter analyses various key theoretical and ideological explanations for this international pattern of sex segregation. The second section of the chapter examines potential levers for change.