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Job Gendering: Occupational Choice and the Marriage Market
Author(s) -
Lee Badgett M. V.,
Folbre Nancy
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
industrial relations: a journal of economy and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.61
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1468-232X
pISSN - 0019-8676
DOI - 10.1111/1468-232x.00290
Subject(s) - attractiveness , appeal , socialization , occupational segregation , psychology , social psychology , test (biology) , labour economics , demographic economics , economics , political science , law , paleontology , psychoanalysis , wage , biology
Existing theories of occupational segregation appeal to family‐related responsibilities, employer discrimination, and socialization to explain why women and men occupy such different jobs. We suggest that occupational segregation is perpetuated because women (and men) may be penalized in the marriage market for making nontraditional occupational choices. As an empirical test, we asked students to rate personal ad‐like vignettes. Holding all else equal, having a gender‐nonconforming occupation reduced the attractiveness of both men and women.