Occupational inequality is the unequal treatment of people based on gender, sexuality, age, disability, socioeconomic status, religion, height, weight, accent, or ethnicity in the workplace. When researchers study trends in occupational inequality they usually focus on distribution or allocation pattern of groups across occupations, for example, the distribution of men compared to women in a certain occupation. Secondly, they focus on the link between occupation and income, for example, comparing the income of whites with blacks in the same occupation.
Some consequences of occupational inequality include things like economic 8, reduced well-being, the undermining of trust in institutions and the hampering of overall economic growth and productivity. Ways to address it include promoting inclusivity and diversity in the hiring process as well as the researching and addressing of biases in recruitment, pay, and promotion.
Effects Occupational inequality greatly affects the socioeconomic status of an individual which is linked with their access to resources like finding a job, buying a house, etc. If an individual experiences occupational inequality, it may be more difficult for them to find a job, advance in their job, get a loan or buy a house. Occupational standing can lead to predictions of outcomes such as social standing and wealth which have long-lasting effects on the individual as well as their dependents. Segregation by gender in the labor force is high, hence the reason why there remain disparities and inequalities among men and women of equitable qualifications. The division of labor is a central feature for gender based inequality. It influences the structure both based on its economic aspects and construction of identities. However, studies show that the general overall picture of gender and labor has not been evaluated. The importance of these issues is pertinent for the future structure of our labor force.
History The enactment of federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws were passed in the 1960s to enforce equal employment opportunities and to eradicate past discrimination against women and minority men in the workplace. In the 1960s and 1970s, the US saw a tremendous decrease in occupational inequality; however, in the 1980s and 1990s, it began to rise again.
Theories Richard A. Miech poses that occupational inequality could diminish over time. He states that race and sex discrimination is inefficient in a competitive world because it calls for only white men to be employed. White men, however, will demand a higher salary than women or people of other races who have the same education and abilities, and thus discriminating employers lose more money. Non-discriminating employers can gain an edge in the competitive market by hiring women and minorities, thereby reducing occupational inequality.
According to the process of "aging effects", occupational inequality will continue with advancing age. According to this theory, the labor market consists of two sectors of jobs; one is the "primary" core of good jobs with good working conditions, advancement opportunities and job safety. The other is the "peripheral" sector of bad jobs with bad working conditions, low advancement opportunities and little job safety. Mobility between these two groups is difficult. Women and minorities are disproportionately placed into the peripheral sector early on in their careers with little chance of moving into the primary group to achieve equal occupational status.
The theory of "homosocial reproduction" suggests those in high positions tend to pick the employees who have similar social backgrounds as their own for advancement. Since the majority of managers are men, women are less chosen for career advancement.
Measurement The Duncan Socioeconomic Index (SEI) has been most commonly used to measure Occupational Status. It is based on two factors, occupational earnings and occupational education.
One way occupational inequality is measured is by the index of dissimilarity (D). The equation is as follows:
D=½εi|Xi-Yi|
where Xi equals the percent of race or sex group X in the labor force in occupation i and Yi equals the percent of race or sex group Y in occupation i. D is the measure of one half the sum of the absolute difference between the percentage distributions. The values range from 0 to 100 and measures the relative separation or integration of groups across an area.Chart disimilarity, censusscope.org. If the value equals 0% it means the area is distributed evenly. If the value is 100% it means the area is completely segregated. If the value is 60%, for example, it means 60% of workers would have to change occupations to make the distributions equal.
Occupational segregation Occupational inequality is often linked with occupational segregation in a work place. The greater the segregation in a workplace, the greater the occupational inequality. This is true specifically for jobs dominated by a certain minority or women. They often have bad work environments and less income than white males who usually make up the managerial positions with better work environments and more pay.
Gender inequality Some common inequalities that can exist in the workplace are the gender-based imbalances of individuals in power and command over the management of the organization. Sometimes women do not move up into higher paid positions as quickly as men though this can be due to a number of factors including career breaks due to having children, less motivation to apply for promotion or discriminatory attitudes or behaviour. Some organizations have more inequality than others, and the extent to which it occurs can differ greatly. In the workplace the men usually hold the higher positions and the women often hold lower paid positions such as secretaries. Gender inequality can also be understood when looking at transgender workers. Workers have different experiences when transitioning at the workplace. Power that was held previously can be lost when transitioning to a woman while workers transitioning to a man can experience a power gain.
Racial inequality
Ethnicity has a large influence on the quality of jobs as well as the amount of money an individual will make in the workforce. Today, African American men working full-time and year-round have 72 percent of the average earnings of comparable white men. Between African American and white women, the wage ratio is 85 percent. The black unemployment rate is typically at about double the rate among white people. White men have multiple substantial advantages in the workplace. They are offered a larger variety of job opportunities. The positions that earn the most money and have the most power are usually occupied by white men. Though this type of inequality has been lowered in the last 20 years, it is still common.
Causes
There are organizing processes that produce class, racial, and gender inequalities. A number of inequalities occur because of implicit bias. Some people have argued that the women gain their social position from the men around them, such as their fathers and their husbands. This is because womanhood has, throughout history, been attributed to child bearing and raising a family. Employment, and the benefits that came with it, always came after their family life. In the workplace it is required that a worker shows up on time and works continuously for the entire workday, which usually consists of eight hours in western countries. Since women were responsible for raising children, they had much less time and flexibility to partake in full-time jobs, and thus women in the workforce were generally only seen in part-time positions. Others maybe have been kept permanently part-time as a labour loophole. This trend is part of what leads to modern-day inequality.
Inequality in education
As the occupational pipeline, the educational background and environment in which people develop profoundly shape the direction in which their career path will follow. Historically, there has been a significant gender imbalance in fields of study. Women have always dominated the humanities, while men have held a sizeable difference when it comes to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Some of the primary factors leading to gender imbalances in collegiate fields of study include differences in pre-college preparation, personal preference for a field of study, and career prospects.
Getting a job: skills, networks, and discrimination
Low socioeconomic status correlates with an individual's human capital, defined by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as the "knowledge, skills, competencies and other attributes that are relevant to economic activity".Bartlett, Bruce. National Center for Policy Analysis. 24:207 . Web. 20 November 2012. How Outsourcing Creates Jobs in America The term capital-skill complementarity describes the close relationship that exists between access to human capital and skills development. The existence of this complementarity indicates that the socioeconomic status, by means of its direct effect on access to human capital, determines employee skill sets and employability.
Existing disparities between socio-economic groups continue the perpetuation of a workforce divided into unskilled and skilled workers and ensures that low SES Americans will continue to lack the human capital they need to develop employable skills. Evidence from research conducted by the OECD shows that the skills-education gap has widened in Africa, South America, Eastern Europe and most developed OECD countries."Valuable Skills, Human Capital and Technology Diffusion" George Messinis and Abdullahi D. Ahmed Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University. Because skills facilitate the diffusion of technical knowledge and innovation and human capital is key to the individuals' ability to assimilate new technology and to develop institutional knowledge as well as to increase access to high-quality connections low SES has been shown to contribute to inequalities in skill building and thus depresses the employability of low-income Americans.
Skills and employment: job placement and employment trends