Industrial Segregation in the Australian Labour Market

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Abstract
A distinction is drawn between occupational segregation and industrial segregation: the former has been the focus of much research but the latter has been virtually ignored. Industrial segregation is important because it is the con sequence of occupational segregation. After examining methodological approaches, this paper presents the results of an analysis of industrial segre gation in the Australian labour market utilising the modified index of segregation and the Oppenheimer measure. The data show that the female workforce is concentrated in what can be called "female" industries but that the large pro portion of both the male and the female workforce concentrated in the "well represented" group indicates that industrial segregation does not divide the male and female labour markets as clearly as does occupational segregation. The conclusion is that the differential growth of Australian industrial sectors, in association with the existence of industrial segregation would tend to indicate an increase in the availability of "female" employment but this conclusion must be modified by an acknowledgement of the fact that, even now, males are moving into traditional "female" occupations and are, moreover, finding jobs in the higher echelons.

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