Occupational segregation by sex and industrialization in Canada, 1891-1971
Creators: name: Lautard, E. Hugh
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2010

description: Occupational data for industrial labour forces reveal sexual division of labour in the form of occupational segregation by sex (OSS). There are two principal dimensions of this phenomenon. First, male and female workers are distributed differently among occupations, an aspect of OSS referred to as occupational differentiation by sex (ODS). Second, there is considerable variation in the internal sex compositions of occupations, such that women are overrepresented in a few jobs, and underrepresented in others. This dimension of OSS is referred to as occupational sex-typing (OST). Some patterns of OSS suggest that male and female workers are not merely segregated into different jobs, but also stratified into occupations readily ranked according to conventional criteria. Such sexual stratification of the labour force is referred to as sexual inequality of occupational status (SIS). Although economic, socialization, discrimination, interdisciplinary, and ecological explanations of change in OSS and SIS identify important determinants of these phenomena, none of these perspectives provides an adequate theory of change in OSS and SIS. As well, the various approaches have led to contradictory conclusions about trends in OSS and SIS. Some authors argue that there has been no change in the degree of these phenomena. Others contend that OSS and SIS have grown more pronounced, while yet others claim declines in these phenomena. Much of the confusion concerning trends in OSS and SIS results from methodological inadequacies, which render inconclusive many of the findings of previous research. The thesis of this study is that there should be inverse relationships between the level of industrialization and both OSS and SIS. Specifically, it is argued that (1) the development of machine technology tends to eliminate the necessity to select workers for some jobs on the basis of strength, i.e., usually by sex; (2) the commitment to productivity characteristic of industrial societies implies hiring and promoting workers on the basis of their probable contribution to production; (3) the industrial urban milieu is characterized by conditions conducive to the employment and advancement of women (e.g., low birth rate, career opportunities); and (4) the bureaucratization accompanying industrialization ideally implies the selection and promotion of workers on the basis of achieved qualifications, determined by formalized, calculable standards, rather than on such traditional, ascriptive, and often economically irrational, criteria as sex. Accordingly, it is predicted that ODS, OST, and SIS will be inversely related to technological development, productivity, urbanization, and bureaucratization, and that as the levels of the latter dimensions of industrialization increase over time the degree of ODS, OST, and SIS will decline. Indexes of each dimension of industrialization and of JDDS, OST, and SIS are calculated with official Canadian data for the census years 1891 through 1971. The results are graphed and correlated, and subjected to regression and trend analysis. Generally, the findings are consistent with the thesis of inverse relationships between both OSS and SIS and each dimension of industrialization. Declines in OSS, however, are slight, with considerable sexual division of labour remaining at the end of the period studied. The theoretical and methodological implications of these findings are discussed, and several directions for subsequent research indicated.