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Gender Segregation (gender + segregation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	40%

Selected Abstracts

Doing Gender in Academic Education: The Paradox of Visibility

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 4 2009
Marieke Van Den Brink
Recent contributions in the field of gender and organization point to the notion of paradox to unveil the persistence of gender inequality in organizations. This article seeks to contribute to this growing body of knowledge. We used the notion of paradox to reveal the processes of doing gender at an earth science department of a Dutch university in order to find out whether gender segregation in academic and professional careers has already started during academic education. We focused on the study choices of female students in earth sciences and discovered the paradox of visibility, which enabled us to show the contradictory and ambiguous nature of how gender is done at this department. In this article we discuss the relationship between doing gender and paradox on a theoretical as well as an empirical level. We argue that paradoxes could be very useful when analysing doing gender in organizations, because paradoxes focus on the social process in which individual agency and social structures come together. We even suggest that paradoxes might help us to disrupt the hierarchical nature of the gender binary, because they allow for a constant reflection on ambiguity and contradictions in theorizing as well as in practice. [source]

The issue of gender within computing: reflections from the UK and Scandinavia

INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 2 2001
Maxine Robertson
Abstract. Thispaper explores some of the reasons that may underlie the gender segregation and declining levels of female participation within the field of computing in Europe during the 1990s in both the professional (industrial) and academic spheres. The interrelationships between three areas , communicative processes, social networks and legitimizing claims to knowledge overlaid by gendered-power relations , are used to analyse and explain the existing situation. The paper draws upon statistical data to explore the extent of gender segregation and then focuses on the authors' own experiences within the UK and Scandinavia in order to explore some of the underlying causes. While direct discrimination does still occur, the paper suggests that indirect, deep-rooted discrimination is the major reason for the situation that currently exists. Drawing upon our own experiences in academia and business and acknowledging the importance of the institutional context, the paper offers a number of recommendations as to how the current situation may be improved. We suggest first that consideration is given to the pedagogical design and marketing of computing courses so that individuals are initially attracted to computing from far more diverse backgrounds, approaches and interests than at present. Second, we suggest that those with influence in the field reflect upon the constitution and behaviours of the informal networks in which they are involved and seek to include female researchers more actively here. Finally we suggest that consideration is given in more general terms to how the field may become more gender neutral and, thus, more inclusive in the future. Masculine discourses and ,hard' skills have dominated within computing for too long and contribute significantly to the declining participation of women within computing. [source]

Workforce Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap: Is "Women's" Work Valued as Highly as "Men's"?,

JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2008
Christine Alksnis
This study focuses on gender segregation and its implications for the salaries assigned to male- and female-typed jobs. We used a between-subjects design to examine whether participants would assign different pay to 3 types of jobs wherein the actual responsibilities and duties carried out by men and women were the same, but the job was situated in either a traditionally masculine or traditionally feminine domain. We found pay differentials between jobs defined as "male" and "female," which suggest that gender-based discrimination, arising from occupational stereotyping and the devaluation of the work typically done by women, influences salary allocation. The ways in which the results fit with contemporary theorizing about sexism and with the shifting standards model (Biernat, 1995, 2003) are discussed. [source]

Becoming Sinless: Converting to Islam in the Christian Solomon Islands

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 4 2009
Debra McDougall
ABSTRACT Islam is beginning to have a significant presence in the predominantly Christian nation of Solomon Islands. A few well-educated Islanders were drawn to Islam's elegant monotheism and promise of unity in the 1980s and early 1990s, but numbers have grown significantly in the years following a violent civil conflict (1998,2003). Many of these new Muslim converts, especially those from the island of Malaita, seem preoccupied with the problem of sin and blame Christianity for destroying customary rules, especially those enforcing gender segregation. Echoing long-standing Malaitan critiques of Christian freedom, they say that Christians rely too heavily on God's grace and their own ability to resist temptation. Unlike Christianity and similar to the traditional religion of the islands, Islam provides clear moral rules for living. Seeking an escape from a cycle of sin and redemption, these ex-evangelical Christians now see in Islam the possibility of becoming sinless. [source]

Occupational gender composition and wages in Canada, 1987,1988

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2001
Michael Baker
In this paper, we provide a comprehensive picture, circa the late 1980s, of occupational gender segregation in Canada and its consequences for wages. Our analysis reveals sensitivity of the estimated penalty to ,female work' to both specification and estimation strategy. Our preferred estimates indicate that the wage penalties for women in female jobs in Canada are generally smaller than penalties in the United States. Of particular note, while there is some heterogeneity across worker groups, on average the link between female wages and gender composition is small and generally not statistically significant. JEL Classification: J71, J78 Taux de féminité des professions et salaires au Canada: 1987,88. Dans cet article, les auteurs dressent un portrait complet de la ségrégation professionnelle fondée sur le sexe au Canada à la fin des années 1980, et de ses répercussions sur le niveau des salaires. Leur analyse révèle que les évaluations de la ,pénalité salariale' dans les emplois féminins dépendent du choix des méthodes d'estimation et des spécifications des fonctions. Les évaluations les plus robustes indiquent que, pour les femmes au Canada, la pénalité reliée aux emplois féminins est généralement plus faible que celle qu'on trouve aux Etats-Unis. Bien qu'on trouve des résultats différents selon les groupes de travailleurs, en moyenne, le lien entre le taux de féminité des professions et le niveau de salaires des femmes est faible, et n'est généralement pas statistiquement significatif. [source]