ASSESSING THE CROSS-SEX VALIDITY OF THE GOLDTHORPE CLASS SCHEMA USINGLOG-LINEAR MODELS WITH LATENT-VARIABLES

In this paper we use log-linear models with latent variables to estima te and compare the structure of job characteristics and their relation to positions in the Goldthorpe class schema for male and female emplo yees. We proceed by estimating latent class models of job attributes a nd then evaluate the degree of similarity in these models between men and women. Sex differences in the patterns of association between the various latent types of job attribute and between those attributes and the Goldthorpe class schema are then assessed. The structure of job a ttributes is found to be generally similar for men and women; and the Goldthorpe schema is shown to be a similarly effective predictor of th ese attributes for both sexes. The class structure of employment relat ions is therefore argued to be equivalent across the sexes, so confirm ing the generality of class relations as conceptualised by Goldthorpe and his colleagues.