Changes in the Sex Composition of U. S. Occupations, 1960-1981

Analysis of occupational data from the 1960 and 1970 Censuses and the Current Population Surveys for 1971 to 1981 reveals that occupational segregation of men and women declined more rapidly in the U.S. during the decade of the seventies than during the sixties. Most of the decline was due to changes in the sex composition of traditionally male occupations. Women's rate of entry into nontraditional occupations increased, with the most dramatic changes occurring among managerial occupations. In contrast, the heavily male crafts occupations and the heavily female clerical occupations remained as segregated during the 1970s as they were during the 1960s.