Industrial Restructuring, Gender Segregation, and Sex Differences in Earnings

Men's and women's 1979 earnings are examined within a framework of the structural transformation of employment and the gender composition of jobs during the 1970s. Tests for interaction between structural change and gender composition reveal that industrial restructuring translates into different job opportunities for men and women, which, in turn, differentiate their economic rewards. Both men and women benefited from the effects of industrial shifts and intraindustry occupational restructuring, but men benefited more from the entry of women into traditionally male-dominated occupations than did woman. Apparently the industrial transformation of employment accompanies a process which redefines gender boundaries so that job sex segregation persists as a feature of the employment structure.

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