ABSTRACT
The five social groups that are the focus of this book experience, to one degree or
another, employment segregation. Employment segregation operates at different levels –
industrial, sectoral and occupational. At the occupational level it involves both vertical
and horizontal segregation where women, black and minority ethnic (BME), disabled
and older workers are more likely to hold lower status, lower paid jobs with less chance
of promotion, training and career opportunities. Given the invisibility of sexual
orientation, it is more difficult to determine whether or not the labour market is
segmented by sexual orientation, but it is certain that gay and lesbian workers experi-
ence disadvantage in the labour market (as shown in Chapter 2).
