Unit C- Blog 12

Occupational segregation still currently exists because of our society’s structure. Yes, our society does have laws that prohibit sex discrimination, but occupational segregation still occurs because we our socialized to accept it. As children growing up and learning in schools, observing through experiences and media, occupations are segregated. Even reflecting on my childhood, and in dialogue that is still currently used, I can recall and terms such as “Police Man,” “Mail Man,” and “Fireman.” These are terms that are engraved in our society’s and culture’s communication. In the book At Work in the Iron Cage, they use the media as examples for social constructing pertaining to prison facilities. I can think of several examples of socialization from the media with occupational segregation. In a majority of sitcom and TV shows, Nurses are always these beautiful women that are nurturing to whatever character is having some type of health problem. There is the stereotype of the successful business man and his female secretary. These are just a couple of examples of how our society shows us from a young age that it is a norm for certain genders to perform certain careers. Many of the materials we researched have shown slight improvements on women, and even men, entering non-traditional jobs. I think that because we have shown some improvement, we are quick to pat ourselves on the back and say, “See, we are improving.” Overall, they still exist because society as a whole accepts it, and don’t always realize that they are contributing to the segregation, or are part of it, they just think they are performing the role that they have been raised to complete.

Gender formations relate to occupational segregation in many ways. The first example that comes to mind is the physical attributes affiliated with the male and female genders. Several times throughout the book At Work in the Iron Cage they refer to the relation between men and violence, and men and strength. Even in the youtube.com video Women at Work, non-traditional jobs, many of the women talk about the physical labor involved with their non-traditional jobs. Many of the jobs that are segregated in favor of men entail a lot of physical labor. Our society obviously implies that men are more physical than women. This socialization is apparent through jobs, sports, and many other aspects of our society. Therefore, these physical stereotypes with men and women are played out in the work place. The next example would be the stereotype with women and nurture. Many of the jobs like childcare and healthcare are segregated towards women because of this stereotype. If our society continues to display these things as norms, then they will continue to influence occupations.

When women do break into non-traditional or male dominated occupations, there are many benefits and advantages. I think the first major advantage is the pay is typically higher in these fields, so they will likely have more income in a more female dominated field. Another advantage is for the impact on society. The more women are crossing this barrier, the more normal it becomes to society. It can also motivate other women to do the same thing. The last would be the amount of recognition involved. Peers and co-workers will automatically notice a woman in this type of position, because it is different than what is normal, therefore these individuals have a chance to shine in that spotlight.

When women enter their field they both gain and lose. I am a strong believer in work diversity because it helps people become more rounded and learn the ways of others. It broadens our minds to work with individuals different then us, and it helps us to learn from each other. Another way men benefit is that it would increase the amount of competition and could possibly push them to excel more than they may have without that competition. One way they would be on the losing side is that it would eliminate the amount of opportunity that would normally be available to them. Another way they could suffer in this type of situation is that they sometimes may be more qualified, but quotas have to be filled and someone diverse may get the nod. This happens with not only gender, but race, sexuality, etc. I would say overall though, that men and society would benefit from women entering male dominant occupations.