Volume 14, Number 2 (Spring) 1979
Blau, Francine D., and Wallace E. Hendricks. 1979. "Occupational Segregation by Sex: Trends and Prospects." Journal of Human Resources 14(2):197-210.
Postwar trends in the degree of occupational segregation are investigated. Segregation is found to have increased slightly between 1950 and 1960 as predominantly female clerical and professional jobs grew in relative size. Changes in occupation mix were neutral in impact during the 1960-70 period, but an inflow of men into female professions and of women into male sales and clerical jobs produced a modest drop in segregation. This decrease fell far short of what could have been achieved by "sex-blind" hiring. On the basis of past trends, little progress in reducing segregation is expected for the 1970-85 period.
The authors are Associate Professors of Economics and Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Helpful comments were received from Lawrence Kahn, Paula England, Marianne Ferber, William Form, Elizabeth Landes, Paul Osterman, Ross Stolzenberg, and Myra Strober, as well as from the editor and an anonymous referee of this Journal. We are indebted to Lori Bowman and Greg Devereux for their able research assistance.
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