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November 2011, Vol. 134, No. 11
Job and industry gender segregation: NAICS categories and EEO-1 job groups
Bliss Cartwright, Patrick Ronald Edwards, and Qi Wang
Bliss Cartwright is a social science research specialist, Patrick Ronald Edwards is the Director of the Program Research and Surveys Division, and Qi Wang is a survey statistician, all in the Office of Research, Information and Planning, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, DC. Email: bliss.cartwright@eeoc.gov.
An examination of gender segregation by jobs and industry reveals that industries classified in NAICS and job groups listed in the 2008 EEO-1 National Survey of Private Employers are more gender segregated than the total workforce; the largest contribution to gender segregation is attributable to differences in diversity across NAICS subcategories.
How are men and women distributed across job groups and industries? This article uses the 2008 EEO-1 National Survey of Private Employers1 to explore the effects of industries and job groups on gender differences. The focus is the question, Which segments of the labor force contribute the most to gender segregation in the United States?2 Of particular interest are the industry categories of the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS), in relation to which the question becomes, Is gender segregation most likely in goods-producing industries or service-providing industries, and in which sectors does it occur?
1 Officially known as Standard Form 100, Employer Information Report EEO-1.
2The concept of segregation is used here in the tradition of social science studies, which measure degrees of concentration by a particular
group. It is not intended to represent situations in which one group is entirely excluded from jobs or employment opportunities.
Gender differences in occupational distributions among workers.—Jun. 2007.
How does gender play a role in the earnings gap? an update—Mar. 2003.
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