UZH: For this reason, occupational groups are often gender-typical

Many women and men work in gender-typical professions. A new study by the University of Zurich explains why: according to the study, one important reason is that men selectively leave professions that are increasingly taken up by women.

There is still a strong gender divide in the labor market, although the occupational status of the sexes has become more equal over the last 50 years. For example, many nursing professions are female-dominated, while many skilled trades are mainly carried out by men. Why? The University of Zurich has attempted to explain this in a new study. According to the study, there is a theory in gender research that men selectively leave professions and specializations that are taken up by more women.

Theory empirically tested

Per Block, Professor of Sociology at the University of Zurich, has empirically tested the theory using new methods from network research. The labor market is understood as a network in which employees connect different professions with their career changes. This makes it possible to analyse whether men are selectively leaving professions that are feminizing. This is done by taking into account the various occupational characteristics that channel men and women into different occupations. The empirical data for the study comes from Great Britain; the labor market there has similarities with many European countries, but also with North American countries.

The results clearly show that men are less likely to stay in occupations to which more women switch. For example, the study compares two hypothetical professions that are identical in all occupational characteristics and only differ in that 25 percent of women work in one and 75 percent in the other. "The analysis shows that men are twice as likely to leave the feminizing occupation," says Prof. Block. The effect of this behavior is being researched in a simulation study in which women and men are not influenced by the gender of other employees in professions. If only job-specific attributes (such as salary, flexibility, or characteristics of the job) actually influenced job changes, the simulation study predicts a 19-28 percent decrease in gender segregation in occupations.

The research concludes that gender segregation is not only caused by gender-typical job attributes, but also by men (and women) who consciously or unconsciously resist mixing.