Occupational Gender Segregation and Justice Perceptions of Men and Women

• In Event: 589 - Regular Session. Gender Bias, Segregation, and Opportunities at Work

Abstract

Gender differences in justice evaluations of earnings are of considerable interest since the late 1970s, especially against the backdrop that women usually earn less than men but widely perceive their earnings as being less unjust. This paper specifically draws attention to contextual influences in order to explain this seeming paradox. We argue that the occupational gender segregation constraints opportunities for comparison processes and, thus, influences justice evaluations of men and women. Hypotheses are tested using large scale panel data (N=21,419) from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) of the years 2009-2013. Results indicate that women evaluate their earnings as less unjust than men. However, women working in male-dominated occupations do not show this gender bias. This contradicts the view that women and men inherently differ in their processing of inequality and suggests that gender differences in justice perceptions of earnings are the result of idiosyncratic selection of men and women into occupations with differing opportunities for comparisons.

Authors

• Sonja Kruphölter, Bielefeld University

• Carsten Sauer, Bielefeld University

• Peter Valet, Bielefeld University