Gender segregation in German firms

Abstract

"The social inequality of the sexes in the labour market is closely related to the segregation into male and female occupations. This paper deals for the first time with the description and measurement of occupational segregation in firms using a representative databasis, and asks whether further results can be obtained at firm level compared with the labour market. By looking at establishment level, segregation is to be measured where it is experienced by the labour market participants. The study is descriptive: we first report about the proportions of women in the 30 most common occupations in the labour market and compare them with the mean proportions of women resulting from an establishment-related examination. In the average of the establishments they are similar to the overall labour market, although there is a considerable variance between the establishments. After this, classical segregation indices (Duncan Index, standardised Duncan Index, interaction measurement) are calculated at establishment level and compared with the index values for the entire labour market. Taking into account the establishment level leads to higher segregation values than for the labour market overall. Approximately one third of the establishments employ men and women in completely different occupations and only a tiny minority shows a gender composition in the occupations represented which is equivalent to that of the workforce. The results support the view that any labour market policy aimed at reducing occupational segregation should also take the establishment level into consideration." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Hinz, T. & Schübel, T. (2001): Geschlechtersegregation in deutschen Betrieben. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 34, No. 3, p. 286-301.