New method to understand occupational gender segregation in European labour markets

Abstract

This report presents a new way of investigating gender segregation by occupation. The analyses show conclusively that the nature of the occupation itself is important, above and beyond whether an occupation is male-dominated, female-dominated or mixed, and above and beyond whether an occupation is blue-collar or white-collar. In other words, occupation matters! In this report we demonstrate how it is not only the gender of the worker but also the gender characteristics of the occupation – male-dominated, female dominated or mixed – that may lead to different working experiences.