Models for Describing the Underlying Structure of Sex Segregation

This article introduces a structural approach to analyzing sex segregation data that rests on margin-free measures of the underlying association in sex-by-occupation arrays. The starting point for the analyses is a log-multiplicative model that is formally consistent with the conventional practice of summarizing cross-national variability in a single parameter pertaining to the overall strength of sex segregation. Under this baseline specification, the segregation regime is forced to take on the same basic shape in each country, with the only form of permissible variability being a uniform compression or expansion of the peaks and valleys characterizing the shared segregation profile. Although the latter model does not account for the cross-national variability in our illustrative data, it can be readily generalized in ways that both improve the fit and yield new insights into the structure and sources of sex segregation. These elaborated models can be used to examine the hierarchical structure of segregation, to identify the dominant "segregation profiles" in industrial countries, and to parse out the net residue of segregation at multiple levels of analysis.