Woman in Non-traditional Jobs (Blog 12)

Occupational segregation still exists despite of the laws against sex discrimination because of the structures of work organizations and cultural and ideological assumptions. The structure of work organizations are based on the internal stratification of institutions which usually place women in the lowest rung of the occupational ladder (pg. 5). For example, formal job evaluation systems are used to set wages according to skill, responsibility, complexity and training. This contributes to the existence of occupational segregation because the jobs that pay lower wages are typically the least difficult and require less responsibility and are unfortunately filled by women.

Cultural and ideological assumptions create organizations that are structured to rigidly separate the public and private spheres from the workplace. Activities like child birth, child care, sexuality, eating and sleeping, for example, are generally kept completely separate from the workplace. As a result women suffer from this structure because they are typically in charge of the private sphere and employers are not tolerant when issues of the private spheres spill into the workplace (pg.8).

The advantages that women gain by breaking into male dominated occupations, according to the video urging women to join the non-traditional labor-force, said that opportunities are endless since there aren't many women in the field. It is exciting work and pays well and they get a chance to experience different environments. The woman in the Beyond the Blue video says the advantages of being the only woman on the SWAT team was that she paved the way for other women to join the quad if they chose to do so in the future. Also she claims it she likes the challenge of proving herself worthy by doing an excellent job and staying physically fit. This could be seen as a disadvantage for some but she seems fulfilled by the work she does despite the obstacles.

Men may feel threatened when women enter male dominated occupations. This is because they are used to being deferred to by women and others, but when a women joins their ranks they are forced to be the submissive ones and this change of roles can feel threatening at first but they adapt. For example, the woman on the SWAT team had a husband that was also a cop and he mentioned getting teased about who wears the pants in their relationship and having to deal with other jokes but he said it’s not so bad.

Men can also gain from women being in the work force. For example, if a male inmate is acting up and a male officer is losing his nerve and is afraid of pulling some macho violent stunt, he can ask his female corrections officer to go in and smooth things over. One woman mentions telling the rowdy inmate that “I’m just a little old girl, come on, don’t hit me, I like my face the way it is.”