Following lives from birth and through the adult years GeNet Gender Equality Symposium Erzsébet Bukodi Institute of Education, University

following lives from birth and through the adult years www.cls.ioe.ac.uk

GeNet Gender Equality Symposium

Erzsébet Bukodi

Institute of Education, University of London

Bad start: is there a way up?Gender differences in the effect of initial

occupation on early career mobility in Britain


Research questions

Major objective: to examine gender and cohort differences in the strength of the effects of career entry on subsequent upward or downward mobility.

Do ‘bad’ entry jobs have implications for career development which differ by gender?

If gender differences in the consequences of ‘bad’ entry jobs do exist, are these differences stable or changing over time?


Why gender differences? Selectivity issues: in certain low level entry positions

women may have lower qualifications women may have fewer opportunities for further training

Career prospects may be affected by employees’ work contracts

increased participation in part-time work for British women

Gender differences in the effect of ‘psychological capital’ a ‘bad entry’ may discourage women more from applying for better

jobs Gender differences in preferences

women may be less concerned with a rapid job promotion

→ Women make fewer ‘good’ job changes and more between ‘bad’ jobs


Gradually improving position of women in the British LM Men’s LM opportunities have been worsening since the

early eighties → diminishing gender differences in the effects of initial

occupational placement on career trajectories

Polarisation of employment structure (e.g. Goos and Manning, 2007): growing demands for highly educated employees growing demands for more ‘feminized’ low paid service

jobs with few career prospects → increasing gender differences in the effects of initial

occupational placement on career trajectories

Why cohort differences?


Data: NCDS and BCS70 The National Child Development Study

- census of babies born in a certain week of 1958 in Great Britain - 7 main interview waves up to 2004 (age 46)

The British Cohort Study- census of babies born in a certain week of 1970 in Great Britain- 6 sweeps up to 2004 (age 34)

In both surveys:- retrospective histories of employment - women’s and men’s occupational histories

This paper:- makes use of the sweeps conducted at age 23, 33-34 in the case of NCDS and at age 26, 30 and 34 in the case of BCS70- reconstructs cohort members’ job histories between age 16 and 34 (relatively early career)- only ‘significant’ jobs are considered (lasted at least 6 months)


Examining occupational mobility: creating an occupational scale

We construct a ranking schema based on occupational wage rates (see Nickell, 1982)

earnings data from the UK New Earnings Survey ranked the occupations using the 77 SOC codes according to

the mean hourly wage rates of full-timers in each occupation (Men + women)

the scores represent relative positions within occupational distribution

Low quality occupations: those in the bottom quintile


Low quality jobs at LM entry

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Women Men Women Men

Cohort-1958 Cohort-1970

1st (lowest)

2nd

3rd

4th

5th (highest)


Consequences of ‘bad entry’

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Women Men Women Men

Cohort-1958 Cohort-1970

Stable

Steadely upward

Counter mobiles - movingbetween level 1 and 2

Counter mobiles - other

Unstable

Distribution of individuals who entered the labour market in the LOWEST occupational level by the career type


Consequences of ‘bad entry’: an event-history analysis All job moves up to age 34 are considered

Piecewise exponential models (with control for unobserved heterogeneity)

Dependent variables: upward and downward mobility

Key explanatory variable: first occupational level

Other covariates: job tenure (in months) cumulative work experience (in months) % of work career in part-time employment until current job occupational mobility history up to current job (no mobility, only upward, only downward,

both types) qualifications at entry the current job current job: occupational score, part-time/full-time job


Consequences of ‘bad entry’: the effects of first occupational level on upward mobility

-0.5 0.50-0.25 0.25

3rd level

1st level

2nd level

4th level5th levelCohort-1958

-0.5 0.50-0.25 0.25

3rd level1st level

2nd level

4th level

5th levelCohort-1970

MEN

0.50 0.25-0.25-0.5

3rd level

1st level

2nd level4th level 5th levelCohort-1958

0.50-0.5 0.25-0.25

3rd level

1st level

2nd level

4th level


WOMEN


Consequences of ‘bad entry’: the effects of first occupational level on downward mobility

WOMEN

-0.5 0.50-0.25 0.25

3rd level 1st level

2nd level


-0.5 0.50-0.25 0.25

3rd level 1st level

2nd level


MEN

0.50 0.25-0.25-0.5

3rd level

1st level

2nd level4th level5th level

Cohort-1958

0.50-0.5 0.25-0.25

3rd level

1st level

2nd level

4th level



Conclusions Considerable gender differences in the effects of occupational level at LM

entry: Women face the greatest hindrance to career advancement from the low

quality entry jobs

Gender differences in the effect of bad entry jobs on subsequent career chances have changed over time:

For women, the detrimental effects of starting a career in the lowest occupational quintile are more pronounced for members of the 1970 cohort

LM entry at the bottom of occupational hierarchy:

for women: more like a ‘trap’ for men: more like a ‘stepping-stone’

Policy implication: Gender inequalities at the lower hierarchical level appear to be strengthening

Documents

Following lives from birth and through the adult years GeNet Gender Equality Symposium Erzsébet Bukodi Institute of Education, University