This study investigates whether the increasingly common trend of working long hours (“overwork”) perpetuates gender segregation in occupations. While overwork is an expected norm in many male-dominated occupations, women, especially mothers, are structurally less able to meet this expectation because their time is subject to family demands more than is men’s time. This study investigates whether the conflicting time demands of work and family increase attrition rates of mothers in male-dominated occupations, thereby reinforcing occupational segregation. Using longitudinal data drawn from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, I show that mothers are more likely to leave male-dominated occupations when they work 50 hours or more per week, but the same effect is not found for men or childless women. Results also show that overworking mothers are more likely to exit the labor force entirely, and this pattern is specific to male-dominated occupations. These findings demonstrate that the norm of overwork in male-dominated workplaces and the gender beliefs operating in the family combine to reinforce gender segregation of the labor market.

References

Acker, J. 1990 . Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations . Gender & Society 4: 139 - 58 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Bardasi, Elena, Wodon, Quentin. 2010 . Working long hours and having no choice: Time poverty in Guinea . Feminist Economics 16: 45 - 78 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Becker, Penny E., Moen, Phyllis. 1999 . Scaling back: Dual-earner couples’ work-family strategies . Journal of Marriage and the Family 61: 995 - 1007 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Belkin, Lisa . 2003 . The opt-out revolution . New York Times Magazine 26: 42 - 47 .

Google Scholar

Benard, Stephen, Correll, Shelley J. 2010 . Normative discrimination and the motherhood penalty . Gender & Society 25: 616 - 46 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Bianchi, Suzanne M., Milkie, Melissa A., Sayer, Liana C., Robinson, John P. 2000 . Is anyone doing the housework? Trends in the gender division of household labor . Social Forces 79: 191 - 228 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Bianchi, Suzanne M., Robinson, John P., Milkie, Melissa A. 2007 . Changing rhythms of American family life. New York : Russell Sage Foundation Publications .

Google Scholar

Blair-Loy, Mary . 2003 . Competing devotions: Career and family among women executives. Cambridge : Harvard University Press .

Google Scholar

Blau, Francine D., Kahn, Lawrence M. 2006 . The U.S. gender pay gap in the 1990s: Slowing convergence . Industrial and Labor Relations Review 60: 45 - 66 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals

Bluestone, B., Rose, S. 1997 . Overworked and underemployed: Unraveling an economic enigma . The American Prospect 31: 58 - 69 .

Google Scholar

Boulis, Ann K., Jacobs, Jerry A. 2008 . The changing face of medicine: Women doctors and the evolution of health care in America. Ithaca : Cornell University Press .

Google Scholar

Boushey, Heather . 2009 . The new breadwinners. The Shriver report: A woman’s nation changes everything . Center for American Progress, http://www.shriverreport.com/awn/economy.php.

Google Scholar

Budig, Michelle J. 2006 . Gender, self-employment, and earnings: The interlocking structures of family and professional status . Gender & Society 20: 725 - 53 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Budig, Michelle J., England, Paula. 2001 . The wage penalty for motherhood . American Sociological Review 66: 204 - 25 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Bureau of Labor Statistics . 2006 . Employment status of civilian labor force participation by sex, race and age . http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm.

Google Scholar

Cha, Youngjoo . 2010 . Reinforcing separate spheres: The effect of spousal overwork on the employment of men and women in dual-earner households . American Sociological Review 75: 303 - 29 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Charles, Maria, Grusky, David B. 2004 . Occupational ghettos: The worldwide segregation of women and men. Stanford : Stanford University Press .

Google Scholar

Coser, Lewis A. 1974 . Greedy institutions: Patterns of undivided commitment. New York : Free Press .

Google Scholar

Coser, Rose L., Coser, Lewis A. 1974 . The housewife and her greedy family . In Greedy institutions: Patterns of undivided commitment, by Coser, L. A. New York : Free Press .

Google Scholar

Cotter, David, Hermsen, Joan M., Vanneman, Reeve. 2011 . The end of the gender revolution? Gender role attitudes from 1977 to 2008 . American Journal of Sociology 117: 259 - 89 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Crittenden, Ann . 2002 . The price of motherhood: Why the most important job in the world is still the least valued. New York : Metropolitan Books .

Google Scholar

Damaske, Sarah . 2011 . For the family?: How class and gender shape women’s work. New York : Oxford University Press .

Google Scholar

Ely, Robin J., Meyerson, Debra E. 2010 . An organizational approach to undoing gender: The unlikely case of offshore oil platforms . Research in Organizational Behavior 30: 3 - 34 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Epstein, Cynthia F., Carroll, Seron, Bonnie, Oglensky, Robert, Saute. 1999 . The part-time paradox: Time norms, professional lives, family and gender. New York : Routledge .

Google Scholar

Fried, Mindy . 1998 . Taking time: Parental leave policy and corporate culture. Philadelphia : Temple University Press .

Google Scholar

Gale, Andrew W. 1994 . Women in non-traditional occupations: The construction industry . Women in Management Review 9: 3 - 14 .

Google Scholar Crossref

Glass, Jennifer, Camarigg, Valerie. 1992 . Gender, parenthood, and job-family compatibility . American Journal of Sociology 98: 131 - 51 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Glavin, Paul, Schieman, Scott, Reid, Sarah. 2011 . Boundary-spanning work demands and their consequences for guilt and psychological distress . Journal of Health and Social Behavior 52: 43 - 57 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Golden, Lonnie . 2000 . Better timing?: Work schedule flexibility among U.S. workers and policy directions . In Working time: International trends, theory and policy perspectives, edited by Figart, D. M., Lonnie, G. London : Routledge .

Google Scholar

Gornick, Janet C., Meyers, Marcia K. 2003 . Families that work: Policies for reconciling parenthood and employment. New York : Russell Sage Foundation .

Google Scholar

Hays, Sharon . 1998 . The cultural contradictions of motherhood. New Haven : Yale University Press .

Google Scholar

Hegewisch, Ariane, Liepmann, Hannah, Hayes, Jeffrey, Harmann, Heidi. 2010 . Separate and not equal? Gender segregation in the labor market and the gender wage gap . IWPR Briefing Paper C377. http://iwpr.org\initiatives\employment-job-quality.

Google Scholar

Hetrick, Ron L. 2000 . Analyzing the recent upward surge in overtime hours . Monthly Labor Review 123: 30 - 33 .

Google Scholar ISI

Hochschild, Arlie R. 1997 . The time bind: When work becomes home and home becomes work. New York : Metropolitan Books .

Google Scholar Crossref

Jacobs, Jerry A. 1989 . Revolving doors: Sex segregation and women’s careers. Palo Alto, CA : Stanford University Press .

Google Scholar

Jacobs, Jerry A., Gerson, Kathleen. 2004 . The time divide: Work, family, and gender inequality. Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press .

Google Scholar

Kalleberg, Arne L. 2007 . The mismatched worker. New York : Russell Sage Foundation .

Google Scholar

Kanter, Rosebath M. 1977 . Men and women of the corporation. New York : Basic Books .

Google Scholar

Kelly, Erin L., Ammons, Samantha K., Chermack, Kelly, Moen, Phyllis. 2010 . Gendered challenge, gendered response . Gender & Society 24: 281 - 303 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Kelly, Erin L., Moen, Phillis, Tranby, Eric. 2011 . Changing workplaces to reduce work-family conflict . American Sociological Review 76: 265 - 90 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Kmec, Julie A. 2005 . Setting occupational sex segregation in motion: Demand-side explanations of sex traditional employment . Work and Occupations 32: 322 - 54 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Kuhn, Peter, Lozano, Fernando. 2008 . The expanding workweek? Understanding trends in long work hours among U.S. men, 1979-2006 . Journal of Labor Economics 26: 311 - 43 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Landers, Renée M., Rebitzer, James B., Taylor, Lowell J. 1996 . Rat race redux: Adverse selection in the determination of work hours in law firms . American Economic Review 86: 329 - 48 .

Google Scholar ISI

Lareau, Annette . 2003 . Unequal childhood: The importance of social class in family life. Berkeley : University of California Press .

Google Scholar

Little, Roderick J. A., Rubin, Donald B. 2002 . Statistical analysis with missing data. Hoboken, NJ : Wiley .

Google Scholar Crossref

Long, J. Scott . 2001 . From scarcity to visibility: Gender differences in the careers of doctoral scientists and engineers. Washington, DC : National Academy Press .

Google Scholar

Maume, David J. 2008 . Gender differences in providing urgent childcare among dual-earner parents . Social Forces 87: 273 - 97 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

McCartt, Anne T., Rohrbaugh, John W., Hammer, Mark C., Fuller, Sandra Z. 2000 . Factors associated with falling asleep at the wheel among long-distance truck drivers . Accident Analysis & Prevention 32: 493 - 504 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

McLaughlin, Heather, Uggen, Christopher, Blackstone, Amy. 2012 . Sexual harassment, workplace authority, and the paradox of power . American Sociological Review 77: 625 - 47 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Meyer, Peter B., Osborne, Anastasiya M. 2005 . Proposed category system for 1960-2000 census occupations . BLS Working Paper Series No.383. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Productivity and Technology .

Google Scholar

Milkie, Melissa A., Mattingly, Marybeth J., Nomaguchi, Kei M., Bianchi, Suzanne M., Robinson, John P. 2004 . The time squeeze: Parental statuses and feelings about time with children . Journal of Marriage and Family 66: 739 - 61 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Miller, Tina . 2011 . Making sense of fatherhood: Gender, caring and work. New York : Cambridge University Press .

Google Scholar

Morgan, Stephen L., Todd, Jennifer J. 2008 . A diagnostic routine for the detection of consequential heterogeneity of causal effects . Sociological Methodology 38: 231 - 81 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Morgan, Stephen L., Winship, Christopher. 2007 . Counterfactuals and causal inference: Methods and principles for social research. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press .

Google Scholar Crossref

National Academy of Sciences . 2006 . Beyond bias and barriers: Fulfilling the potential of women in academic science and engineering. Washington, DC : National Academies Press .

Google Scholar

Pixley, Joy E., Moen, Phyllis. 2003 . Prioritizing careers . In It’s about time: Couples and careers, edited by Moen, P. Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press .

Google Scholar

Potuchek, Jean L. 1997 . Who supports the family?: Gender and breadwinning in dual-earner marriages. Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press .

Google Scholar

Presser, Harriet B. 2005 . Working in a 24/7 economy: Challenges for American families. New York : Russell Sage Foundation .

Google Scholar

Raley, Sara, Bianchi, Suzanne M., Wang, Wendy. 2012 . When do fathers care? Mothers’ economic contribution and fathers’ involvement in child care . American Journal of Sociology 117: 1422 - 59 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Reskin, Barbara F. 1993 . Sex segregation in the workplace . Annual Review of Sociology 19: 241 - 70 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Ridgeway, Cecilia L. 2011 . Framed by gender: How gender inequality persists in the modern world. New York : Oxford University Press .

Google Scholar Crossref

Roth, Louise M. 2006 . Selling women short: Gender inequality on Wall Street. Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press .

Google Scholar

Ruggles, Steven, Alexander, J. Trent, Genadek, Katie, Goeken, Ronald, Schroeder, Matthew B., Sobek, Matthew. 2010 . Integrated public use microdata series: Version 5.0. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota .

Google Scholar

Schieman, Scott, Glavin, Paul, Milkie, Melissa A. 2009 . When work interferes with life: Work-nonwork interference and the influence of work-related demands and resources . American Sociological Review 74: 966 - 88 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Sharone, Ofer . 2004 . Engineering overwork: Bell-curve management at a high-tech firm . In Fighting for time: Shifting boundaries of work and social life, edited by Epstein, C. F., Kalleberg, A. L. New York : Russell Sage Foundation .

Google Scholar

Spurgeon, Anne J., Harrington, Malcolm, Cooper, Carry L. 1997 . Health and safety problems associated with long working hours: A review of the current position . British Medical Journal 54: 367 - 75 .

Google Scholar

Stone, Pamela . 2007 . Opting out?: Why women really quit careers and head home. Berkeley : University of California Press .

Google Scholar

Taylor, Catherine J. 2010 . Occupational sex composition and the gendered availability of workplace support . Gender & Society 24: 189 - 212 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Tilly, Chris . 1996 . Half a job: Bad and good part-time jobs in a changing labor market. Philadelphia : Temple University Press .

Google Scholar

Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald, Zimmer, Catherine, Stainback, Kevin, Robinson, Corre, Taylor, Tiffany, McTague, Tricia. 2006 . Documenting desegregation: Segregation in American workplaces by race, ethnicity, and sex, 1966-2003 . American Sociological Review 71: 565 - 88 .

Google Scholar SAGE Journals | ISI

Townsend, Nicholas W. 2002 . The package deal: Marriage, work, and fatherhood in men’s lives. Philadelphia : Temple University Press .

Google Scholar

Vila, Bryan . 2006 . Impact of long work hours on police officers and the communities they serve . American Journal of Industrial Medicine 49: 972 - 80 .

Google Scholar Crossref | Medline | ISI

Waldfogel, Jane . 1997 . The effect of children on women’s wages . American Sociological Review 62: 209 - 17 .

Google Scholar Crossref | ISI

Weeden, Kim A. 2004 . Profiles of change: Sex segregation in the United States, 1910-2000 . In Occupational ghettos: The worldwide segregation of women and men, edited by Charles, M., Grusky, D. B. Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press .

Google Scholar

Williams, Joan C. 2000 . Unbending gender: Why family and work conflict and what to do about it. New York : Oxford University Press .

Google Scholar

Williams, Joan C. 2010 . Reshaping the work-family debate: Why men and class matter. Cambridge : Harvard University Press .

Google Scholar