Male Flight from Computer Work: A New Look at Occupational Resegregation and Ghettoization

We develop and test six hypotheses regarding resegregation and ghettoization in computer work, a feminizing occupation. We analyze panel data from the National Science Foundation's Survey of Natural and Social Scientists and Engineers (SSE) on 6,162 computer specialists interviewed in 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1989. The results indicate that while the proportion of computer workers who are women has been increasing, the pattern of men's departures from the field does not support hypotheses synthesizedfrom the literature on the processes of resegregation or ghettoization. Specifically, in computer work neither declines in relative earnings for men nor the entrance of women per se prompts the exit of male computer workers. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of resegregation and ghettoization.