Gender Stratification Lecture 7 Gender Stratification

Sexual Division of Labor Almost all societies have a sexual division of labor As the structure of society changes, gender roles and gender equality also change Hunter Gatherer Agrarian/Agricultural Industrial Post-Industrial

Industrialization and the Family Industrialization created one of the biggest shifts in gender relations and family life Separation of work inside/outside home Requires both paid and unpaid labor Family-wage economy: an economic system in which families have one member earning wages to support the family High pay Benefits Skilled labor (investment in education)

Gender Ideology, Family, and Work Separate Spheres Ideology Cult of Domesticity Femininization of domestic labor Naturalization of male/female roles Men as providers Women as caretakers

Social & Economic Invisibility of Household Labor Mom’s “market value” is about 30K greater than the average man’s wage…but Labeled “unoccupied” in our national accounting system No retirement, unemployment, health benefits, nor individual social security “Second Shift”: in dual-income households women often do most of the unpaid labor Working women have 9 hours more housework

What does your family’s division of labor look like?

His and Her Family Dichotomization of morality for men and women in family life Men are encouraged to focus on self-interest for the family Women are encouraged to focus on self-sacrifice for the good of the family

Occupational Segregation “Female” and “Male” professions: In 2003 women were 96% of secretaries 91% of nurses 95% of child care workers 99% of dental hygienists and 97% of kindergarten and preschool teachers But also, 30% physicians, 14% architects, 27% lawyers Why do we see women entering men’s professions, but not the other way around?

Male Pattern of Work The most rewarded careers in our society (prestige and $) are generally based on the assumption that: Time commitment while young long hours flexibility in your schedule and limited household responsibility Imagine what is takes to become a: Medical doctor Lawyer

President of Harvard Fewer Tenured Women in the Sciences… “And the relatively few women who are in the highest ranking places are disproportionately either unmarried or without children…[T]here are many professions and many activities, and the most prestigious activities in our society expect of people who are going to rise to leadership positions in their forties near total commitments to their work. They expect a large number of hours in the office, they expect a flexibility of schedules to respond to contingency, they expect a continuity of effort through the life cycle, and they expect-and this is harder to measure-but they expect that the mind is always working on the problems that are in the job, even when the job is not taking place. And it is a fact about our society that that is a level of commitment that a much higher fraction of married men have been historically prepared to make than of married women.”

Does Silicon Valley have a Glass Ceiling? Of CA’s 400 largest companies only 11.6% of executive officers are women Santa Clara county companies are last in the state for gender equality What are the explanations? Career confusion Structural barriers Networks favor men Tech culture

Wage Gap: For Every White Man’s $... Year Black men Hispanic Men White Women Black Women Hispanic Women 1970 $.69 na $.58 $.48 1980 $.70 $.55 $.50 1990 $.73 $.66 $. 69 $.62 $.54 2003 $.78 $.63 $. 75 $.65

Post-Industrial Economy Dual-income Families are becoming a feature of the post-industrial economy Increasing gender equality in the workplace, but gender norms moved little in the private realm Deinstitutionalization of the marriage/family life Increase in cohabitation, divorce, same sex marriage

How do you think family roles and family will change? What do you think will be the social norms regarding family and marriage for your generation?