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AWARD WINNING PAPER: 1987 ALPHA KAPPA DELTA UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION Women in Traditionally Male Occupations: An Exploratoy Model of Gender‐Work Assimilation
Author(s) -
Winsor Donna I.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-682x.1988.tb01073.x
Subject(s) - individualism , representation (politics) , gender studies , sociology , work (physics) , psychology , paid work , social psychology , assimilation (phonology) , political science , law , engineering , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , politics
A model of gender‐work assimilation is employed to evaluate the structure of male‐dominated occupations and the behavior of women employed in these occupations. It is suggested that because certain occupations have been the exclusive domain of males, the masculine sex‐role “spilled‐over” into the definition of job related tasks. The masculine sex role and work‐emergent behavior cause women to act according to the norms of the occupation. With low occupational representation, women choose, or are pressured into choosing, job specialties considered sex appropriate. The author also suggests that the higher proportion of women in the occupation, the less conforming and more individualistic women become in choosing job specialties.