Where Do Women's Jobs Come From? Job Resegregation in an American Bank

Abstract

We document changes in the gender composition of jobs in a large American bank. This change was occasioned by a restructuring initiative that created new positions. Through interviews with employees and direct observation of work in four geographic regions, we identify five factors that underlie the process of resegregation: managers built gendered assumptions into the new jobs; managers framed employees' choices based on these assumptions; employees responded to these cues and to the characteristics of the jobs; management made job assignments that were consistent with both their assumptions and employees' choices; and both managers and employees developed shared gender norms associated with the new positions.