CONTINUING PROGRESS - TRENDS IN OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION IN THE UNITED-STATES OVER THE 1970S AND 1980S

This study uses comparable data on 470 detailed occupations from the 1 970, 1980, and 1990 Censuses to analyze trends in occupational segrega tion in the United States in the 1980s and compare them in detail to t he 1970s experience of declining segregation. We find that the trend t owards reduced segregation did indeed continue into the 1980s at only a slightly slower pace. In both decades, changes in sex composition wi thin occupations accounted for the major share of the decline in segre gation (compared to changes in the mix of occupations in the economy). We also find that the pattern of changes in the sex composition of oc cupations and in the employment distribution of workers that produced the observed reductions in segregation were remarkably similar in each of these two periods. This similarity potentially poses some problems for the future. As women continue to enter the same areas, resegregat ion, which we found to have relatively moderate effects in the 1970s a nd 1980s, becomes an increasing possibility. Continued progress toward s reducing occupational segregation requires that women succeed in ent ering a broader range of traditionally male occupations and/or a great er flow of men into traditionally female occupations.