ABSTRACT
Scholars around the globe debate the significance of gender segregation for the continuance of economic indicators of women’s inequality, such as the gender pay gap and lower pension entitlements. Women’s labour market participation has increased considerably in the post-war period, particularly that of married women and mothers, such that the gender gap in employment rates has narrowed in many contexts. In Britain, for example, 70 per cent of women are now economically active (that is either in employment or actively seeking work), compared with 83 per cent of men (EOC 2005). In 1951, 26 per cent of women were economically active (Walby 1997). Women’s activity rate in Britain now appears to have plateaued – there has been only a 3 per cent increase in the past 15 years (Hibbett and Meager 2003). Women are concentrated in a limited range of occupations and industries, in the public sector, in small private sector firms and in particular modes of employment such as part-time work (Fagan and Burchell 2002). Gender segregation can be examined along a number of possible dimensions including industry, sector and occupation. This chapter focuses on occupational sex segregation, but touches on other dimensions for the purposes of contextualization and illustration.
