occupational segregation
occupational segregationThe division of labour, in the context of paid employment, as a result of which men and women (or members of different ethnic or religious groupings) are channelled into different types of occupational roles and tasks, such that there are two (or more) separate labour forces. It is conventional to distinguish vertical job segregation, by which (say) male or white employees are concentrated in the higher-status and better-paid positions, from horizontal job segregation (where the different sexes or ethnic groups work in different types of occupation—men are engineers, women are typists, and so on). This distinction is discussed further in the entry on the division of labour.
It is important not to confuse occupational segregation (which refers to those processes by which individuals or groups holding particular jobs are kept apart, so that there is little effective...
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