Sociology Now, Census Update

dating and relationships, parenting, household maintenance, and self-concepts for

both men and women. But that transformation is incomplete. Men and women are

still not equal, either in the workplace or at home.

As we saw in Chapter 9, inequality in the workplace has several distinctive char-

acteristics, whether by gender or any other factor. Sex segregation concentrates women

and men in different jobs and then explains those differences in terms of individual

preferences (women and men simply want different jobs) rather than in terms of struc-

tural opportunities and barriers. About half the world’s workers are in sex-segregated

occupations. In the United States, men comprise 98 percent of construction workers

and 97 percent of airline pilots, for instance, while women comprise 76 percent of

cashiers and 75 percent of clerical workers. While the overall sex segregation declined

significantly in the 1970s, there is evidence of a recent slowdown and resegregation

of jobs within broad occupations (Charles and Grusky, 2004; Padavic and Reskin,

2002), including banking and financial services (Skuratowicz and Hunter, 2004).

Another effect of inequality is the pay gapbetween men and women. Typically,

we think of the pay gap in terms of the percentage of men’s wages that women earn—

that is, we read about women earning 81 cents for every man’s dollar (Figure 13.7).

Yet we could also turn that around and discuss the extra money men get—just for

being men. We could also say that men earn $1.23 for every woman’s dollar—that

is, men get a bonus, a “masculinity dividend” just for being men (Connell, 1995).

448 CHAPTER 13ECONOMY AND WORK

Montana

73%

Wash.

71%

Oregon

71%

Calif.

78%

Nevada

78%

Arizona

72%

Utah

72%

Idaho

82%

Wyoming

71%

Colorado

71%

New Mexico

72%

Texas

71%

Oklahoma

73%

Missouri

76%

Va. 67%

N.C. 77%

S.C.

68%

Georgia

Miss. 69%Ala. 75%

74%

Arkansas

73%

La.

64%

Fla.

70%

Nebraska

75%

Kansas

70%

S. Dakota

74%

N. Dakota

81%

Minn.

77%

Iowa

76%

Illinois

74%

Ind.

67%

Ohio

76%

Kent. 74%

Tenn. 73%

W. Va.

89%

Pa.

77%

N.Y.

Wis. 82%

74% Mich.

72%

Vt.

83%

N.H. 73%

Maine

82%

Mass. 70%

R.I. 77%

Conn. 71%

N.J. 66%

Delaware 74%

Maryland 73%

D.C. 89%

Alaska

82%

Hawaii

77%

Earnings of women over 25 years old with at least a college degree

as a percentage of the earnings of their male counterparts, 2003–2005

64% 69% 74% 79% 84% 89%

FIGURE 13.7 For Woman, Equal Pay? No Way

Source:From “For Women, Equal Pay? No Way,” Time,April 27, 2007.