The Puzzle of Gender Segregation and Inequality: A Cross-National Analysis

Occupational gender segregation has generally been assumed to be a structure of gender inequality in the labour market; high levels of segregation are equated with high levels of gender inequality in a society. The paper questions this assumption. It examines, across a range of countries, the relations between United Nations development measures of gender equality and segregation levels. Contrary to conventional expectations, correlations are found to be positive. To explain these results it is argued that segregation, as measured by conventional segregation indices, is not necessarily indicative of gender inequality which operates to the advantage of men in national labour markets. The usual segregation measures are argued to be the resultant of two components: vertical segregation measuring inequality, and horizontal segregation measuring difference without inequality (here vertical and horizontal are used in their usual mathematical sense rather than the special senses sometimes found in segregation literature). It concludes that the relationship between segregation and inequality is far more complex than previously recognized.