Does the “Glass Escalator” Compensate for the Devaluation of Care Work Occupations?

Abstract

Feminized care work occupations have traditionally paid lower wages compared to non-care work occupations when controlling for human capital. However, when men enter feminized occupations, they often experience a "glass escalator," leading to higher wages and career mobility as compared to their female counterparts. in this study, we examine whether men experience a "wage penalty" for performing care work in today's economy, or whether the glass escalator helps to mitigate the devaluation of care work occupations. Using data from the Survey of income and Program Participation for the years 1996-2011, we examine the career patterns of low-and middle-skill men in health care occupations. We found that men in occupations that provide the most hands-on direct care did experience lower earnings compared to men in other occupations after controlling for demographic characteristics. However, men in more technical allied health occupations did not have significantly lower earnings, suggesting that these occupations may be part of the glass escalator for men in the health care sector. minority men were significantly more likely than white men to be in direct care occupations, but not in frontline allied health occupations. male direct care workers were less likely to transition to unemployment compared to men in other occupations.

Integrating occupations: Changing occupational sex segregation in the U.S. from 2000 to 2014

“…Our findings are consistent with arguments that addressed the uneven nature of occupational change by examining men's involuntary movement into the service sector and other feminized labor (Dill, Price-Glynn, and Rakovski 2016;Gatta, Boushey, and Appelbaum 2009). Williams and Villemez (1993) find that some men enter predominantly female professions through a "trap door": Men facing disadvantages in the labor market (often poor and/or minority) enter less desirable, often feminized, sectors of the labor market.…”

“…Alegria and Branch (2015) show that focusing solely on gender oversimplifies the role of race and immigrant status on career success in US STEM fields. Dill, Price-Glynn, and Rakovski (2016) demonstrate the importance of racial/ethnic status on men's participation in predominantly female direct health care work. Finally, Cotter, Hermsen, and Vanneman (2004) confirm variation across race/ethnic groups in occupational integration.…”

“…Autor (2010: 203, Figure 1) also demonstrates significant shifts in the broader economy for 1979 to 2007: He finds a "pronounced 'polarization' of job opportunities across occupations, with employment growth concentrated in relatively high-skill, highwage and in low-skill, low-wage jobs -at the expense of 'middle-skill' jobs." Declining middle-skill occupations include blue-collar production, craft, and operative work, precisely the occupations held by male workers without a college degree (Autor 2010: 1; see also Dill, Price-Glynn, and Rakovski 2016). Although these employment declines in middle-skill occupations were substantially greater for women than men (Autor 2010: 10), women were more likely to move from middle-to high-skill occupations, while men moved to the "tails of the distribution," especially low-skill occupations.…”

“…More broadly, we examine how occupations shifted to become more or less segregated by sex, regardless of whether those occupations were initially 'male' or 'female. ' We also examine how the integration occurred by focusing on its unevenness, specifically by sociodemographic characteristics such as race and immigrant status (e.g., Dill, Price-Glynn, and Rakovski 2016;Gatta and Roos 2005). With these foci we examine sex integration in process.…”

Feminist perspectives on social entrepreneurship: critique and new directions

“…As women exhibit fewer barriers and greater support when they found and run businesses in feminized industries (e.g., crafts, caregiving and other services) and in industries considered "kinder and gentler" relative to relentlessly competitive arenas such as information technology, they may continue to self-select into these gendered fields. Empirical research suggests compensation penalties in fields associated with females, such that occupations and industries which are feminized become economically devalued (Dill et al, 2016;Lindsey, 2015;Jamieson, 1995). On the flip side, masculinized arenas such as technology entrepreneurship retain glass ceilings for women while they attract greater esteem and resourcing.…”