Occupational gender segregation and gender differences in justice evaluations

Kruphölter S, Sauer C, Valet P. Occupational gender segregation and gender differences in justice evaluations. SFB 882 Working Paper Series. Vol 45. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2015.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 more just. Newer research specifically draws attention to contextual influences in order to explain this seeming paradox. The idea of this paper is to first identify three parameters that are crucial for justice evaluations: comparison processes, status beliefs and occupational segregation. We assume that the segregation of the labor market in male and female dominated occupations influences justice evaluations of men and women. Hypotheses are tested using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) of years 2009-2013. Results indicate that women working in female dominated occupations evaluate their earnings as being less unjust than women in male-dominated occupations. Men in female-dominated occupations do not show differences in their justice evaluations compared to men in other occupations. The implications of these findings are discussed in the light of the literature on gender segregation, social comparisons, status beliefs and distributive justice