Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2015, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (6): 153-177.

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Trends in Occupational Gender Segregation in China: 1982-2010

Author 1: LI Wangyang, Department of Sociology, Peking University; Author 2:XIE Yu,Bert G. Kerstetter’66 University Professor of Sociology and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, Princeton University   

  • Online:2015-11-20 Published:2015-11-20
  • Contact: LI Wangyang, Department of Sociology, Peking University E-mail:wangyangli@pku.edu.cn

Abstract: Occupational gender segregation is a welldocumented phenomenon. It is the primary cause of gender income disparity. In recent years, sociological studies in China have investigated gender segregation in the labor with a focus on the degree and trends of the change since the Reform. There is no consensus in the findings. This is because that many studies used faulty methodology that relied on confusing occupation classification resulting in incompatibility. Many studies also did not separate the two sources of change in occupational segregation, namely, changes due to shifts in sex composition within occupations and changes due to shifts in workforce size and structure of occupations. In this paper, we seek to address these two problems while looking into the question of occupational gender segregation since the Reform. Using the data from the Chinese census in the years of 1982, 1990, 2000, and 2010, we examine the longterm trends of gender segregation in the labor force over the span of 28 years. Our study indicates an overall steady increase in occupational gender segregation in China while the nonagricultural sector has in fact witnessed a decline after an initial increase from 1982 to 1990. The overall increase is largely due to the changes in occupational structure in China while the decline in nonagricultural sector can be explained with women’s increased presence in many formally male dominated professions since the 1990s.

Key words:  occupational gender segregation , gender inequality , market transition