Occupational segregation by sex in Spain: Exclusion or confinement?

• Published date: 01 June 2014
• Author: Diego DUEÑAS FERNÁNDEZ,Carlos IGLESIAS FERNÁNDEZ,Raquel LLORENTE HERAS
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1564-913X.2014.00206.x
• Date: 01 June 2014

International Labour Review, Vol. 153 (2014), No. 2

Copyright © The authors 2014

Journal compilation © International Labour Organization 2014

Occupational segregation by sex

in Spain: Exclusion or connement?

Diego DUEÑAS FERNÁNDEZ,* Carlos IGLESIAS FERNÁNDEZ**

and Raquel LLORENTE HERAS***

Abstract. Spain has one of Europe’s highest levels of occupational segregation by

sex. Using data from the Spanish Working Conditions Survey, this article investi-

gates the determinants of workers’ probabilities of employment in male-dominated

and female-dominated occupations. Combining Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition

technique with counterfactual analysis based on a sample of “hypothetical women”,

the authors probe the unexplained components of the probability differentials they

identify. While gendered labour market dynamics are found to account for the bulk

of segregation, the strength of this effect owes more to “positive discrimination”

favouring women in female-dominated occupations than to discrimination against

women in male-dominated occupations.

The labour market in Spain has recently undergone profound

transformations, particularly in regard to women’s access, presence and

position in the workplace. From 31.8 per cent in 1987, the rate of female la-

bour force participation increased to 52.6 per cent in 2010. Over the same pe-

riod, women’s employment rate almost doubled, from 23 to 41.7 per cent. On

these indicators, the labour market differences between women and men have

been drastically reduced. In 1987, women’s participation and employment rates

were respectively 45.8 and 39.7 per cent of men’s; by 2010, they were 77.7 and

76.8 per cent.

One of the factors explaining these trends is the growth of services sec-

tor employment, coupled with the reduction of agricultural and industrial em-

ployment (Iglesias Fernández, Llorente Heras and Dueñas Fernández, 2009).

Another factor is the development of new information and communication

technologies which, at least in the case of Spain, is linked to growth in fe-

male employment, albeit with only moderate improvements in women’s labour

*

Professor of Economic Theory, University of Alcalá, email: diego.duenas@uah.es. **

Lec-

turer in Applied Economics, University of Alcalá, and researcher at the Institute for Economic

and Social Analysis (IAES), email: carlos.iglesias@uah.es. *** Autonomous University of Ma-

drid, email: raquel.llorente@uam.es.

Responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles rests solely with their authors, and

publication does not constitute an endorsement by the ILO.

International Labour Review312

market situation in terms of gender equality (idem, 2010). Other important

factors include the implementation of economic and social policies against

discrimination, women’s higher educational attainment, lower fertility rates and

the emergence of new exible working arrangements (Dolado, Felgueroso

and Jimeno, 2002).

Against this background, there are several arguments for studying occu-

pational segregation by sex in Spain. First, segregation is one of the most persis-

tent features of labour markets in all developed countries (Anker, 1998; Rubery,

Smith and Fagan, 1999; Boeri, Del Boca and Pissarides, 2005) – and Spain pre-

sents above-average levels of segregation. Second, in contrast to the moderate

reductions in segregation observed in comparable countries, Spain has conti-

nued to experience increasing occupational segregation, at least until recent

years (Mora and Ruiz-Castillo, 2003; Cebrián López and Moreno Raymundo,

2008; Alonso-Villar and del Río, 2010). Third, segregation is the main cause of

income inequality between women and men because of women’s concentration

in low-paid, low-productivity industries and jobs (Bettio, 2002; see also, Blau and

Kahn, 2000; De la Rica, 2007; Chzhen, 2006). Fourth, occupational segregation

also affects women’s employment decisions, reducing their levels of participation

and employment by lowering returns on their investments in human capital (Ru-

bery, Fagan and Maier, 1996). This, in turn, causes inefciency in labour alloca-

tion, which ultimately reduces economic growth (European Commission, 200 9).

Moreover, the ILO (2012) estimates that even in the developed countries

8.3 per cent of employed women are in situations of vulnerability. Women’s

preferences for jobs enabling them to balance work and family responsibilities

help to explain their disproportionate representation in occupations associated

with worse working conditions, lower pay, poorer promotion prospects, lower

responsibility and difcult access to managerial positions. In Spain, as in most

other developed countries, women also show higher rates of temporary and

part-time employment than men; and the gender wage gap is wide and per-

sistent (Cebrián López and Moreno Raymundo, 2008).

The remainder of this article is organized into ve sections. The rst

briey reviews some theoretical explanations for occupational segregation by

sex advanced in the literature and introduces the conceptual framework of our

analysis. The second describes the characteristics of occupational segregation

in Spain by comparison with the situation in neighbouring countries. The third

section presents the methodology used in our analysis, and the data from the

Spanish Working Conditions Survey (SWCS), on which it is based. The fourth

section presents the results of the analysis, and the fth sums up and concludes.

Theoretical explanations and conceptual framework

Attempts have been made to explain occupational segregation by sex using

various demand-side and supply-side arguments (Petrongolo, 2004). First,

women may make lower investments in acquiring human capital than men,

which would explain their assignment to jobs with lower productivity. This