Data-Driven Learning Guide | printer-friendly version |
Gender and Occupation: A Data-Driven Learning Guide
Goal & Concept
Goal
The goal of this exercise is to explore gender differences in occupation. Summary statistics, including the mean, median, mode, and standard deviation will be used.
Concept
The term sex is typically used to refer to a person's biological maleness or femaleness, whereas gender refers to the psychological, social, and cultural aspects of masculinity or femininity.
A large increase in women's labor force participation has occurred since World War II in the United States. Despite gains women have made, significant gender differences in occupational attainment remain. Women tend to be concentrated in office and administrative support and service occupations. In comparison, men tend to be concentrated in "blue collar" jobs, including skilled production, craft and repair work as well semi-skilled and unskilled manual jobs. Studies have found that women and men are equally likely to work in sales occupations.
There are two main theoretical explanations for the differences in occupational attainment between men and women. One explanation emphasizes the preferences and choices women make, which may be influenced by social pressures. The second explanation emphasizes gender discrimination in the labor market, which occurs when men and women with equal qualifications are treated differently.
Examples of possible research questions about gender and occupation:
- How are men and women distributed across occupations?
- Which occupations are predominantly female and which are predominantly male?
- How has the occupational distribution of men and women changed over time?
- Is the occupational distribution of men and women a result of gender discrimination or differences in the choices that men and women make?