Routine-biased Technological Change: Gendered Pathways in a Polarizing Labor Market

• In Event: Gender in Labor Market, Business Network, Managerial Aspiration, and Financial Literacy

Abstract

How does gender shape the impacts of technological advances in the labor market? The U.S. labor market has undergone significant job polarization over the past few decades due to the introduction of computer technology. Personal computers and machines capable of performing rule-based, repetitive tasks have replaced much of the routine work traditionally found in middle-skill, middle-wage occupations (e.g., administrative and manufacturing jobs). This shift has led many workers to transition into non-routine jobs, either in high-skill sectors or in lower-paying service roles. Due to occupational segregation and gendered norms, women and men have experienced and responded to these changes in different ways.

This paper documents the gendered and intersectional impacts of computerization on employment and wages from 1980 to 2018, analyzing two cohorts of workers from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Sequence analysis reveals five representative career trajectories and two subtypes that reflect routine-biased technological change: 1) stable careers in non-routine professional work, 2) persistence in routine office occupations, 2-1) upward mobility from routine office to non-routine professional jobs, 3) stable employment in routine manual work, 3-1) disrupted routine manual careers marked by labor force exits, 4) transitions into non-routine service roles, and 5) trajectories ending in labor market withdrawal.

Multinomial regression analysis shows women and men follow distinct career patterns. Upward mobility from routine office jobs, such as clerical and administrative jobs, to non-routine professional jobs is more prominent among women. In contrast, men are more likely to be employed in routine manual jobs–an occupational group where workers either stay in place or withdraw from the labor market over time. Job polarization patterns are more pronounced among women than men. While highly educated women benefit from technological innovation, others—particularly less-educated women, mothers, and Black women—are more vulnerable to downward mobility into non-routine service work or labor market exit.

Author

• Youngmin Chu, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Presenting Author