Soc 103

Topic: Why do men and women tend to select different types of occupations? In other words: why are women more concentrated in some occupations while men are more concentrated in others?
Thesis: Men and women choose certain jobs because of culture, socialization, and stratification.

Culture → symbols, norms, and values
Socialization → family, school
Stratification → income inequality, glass ceiling

http://wps.prenhall.com/ca_ph_macionis_sociology_5/23/6032/1544227.cw/index.html
Males and females are encouraged through the socialization process to incorporate gender into their personal identities. Table 13-1 (p. 315) identifies the traditional gender identity characteristics along the dimensions of masculinity and femininity. Studies show, however, that most young Canadians do not develop consistently "feminine" or "masculine" characteristics.
Gender roles are attitudes and activities that a society links to each sex. Males are expected to be ambitious and competitive while women are expected to be deferential and emotional.

Gender and Occupations
While the movement of women into the workforce has been impressive, they are still positioned primarily in lower-paying, traditionally female occupations. Although the numbers are declining in 1994, we still see 44% of working women in the "pink-collar" positions of clerical or service as indicated in Table 13-2 (p. 318). Men dominate in all other job categories except health, teaching and social science. They predominate in salary as well. Table 13-3 in the Applying Sociology Box (p. 319) shows that men receive more income than women in all occupational categories. Overall female income is 71% of male income.

Housework: Women's "Second Shift"
Despite women's rapid entry into the labour force they continue to do most of the shopping, cooking and cleaning, amounting to what sociologists call a "second shift", a shift which introduces considerable stress to their lives.

http://dmc122011.delmar.edu/socsci/rlong/intro/gender.htm
• Institutional discrimination explains much inequality in gender (and race and ethnicity) found in the workplace.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2228984/Women-earn-1-2m-lifetime-men-Even-identical-jobs-pay-gaps-huge.html

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/social+stratification

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_segregation

http://www.mcgill.ca/files/_nea/217032_Do%20Women%20Choose%20Different%20Jobs%20from%20Men.pdf

"Women Earn £1/2m Less over a Lifetime than Men: Even for Identical Jobs the Pay Gap's Still Huge." Mail Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. .

Long, Russ. "Institutional Discrimination: Gender Stratification." Introduction Sociology. N.p., 21 May 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. .