Measuring the occupational segregation of males and females in Pakistan in a multigroup context

Abstract

This study measures the occupational segregation of male and female workers in Pakistan using the microdata obtained from the labour force survey of Pakistan for the period 2013–18. The local segregation method is used to study occupational segregation by gender and for several subgroups based on individual and labour market characteristics. Results show that female segregation explains a substantially large proportion of the overall gender segregation, even though the demographic weight of the female labour force is low compared to the male labour force. The analysis of different age groups shows that occupational segregation is significantly higher among elderly males than males in other age groups. Similarly, for females, occupational segregation is significantly higher among elderly females compared to females in other age groups and males in any age group. Furthermore, it is also found that human capital characteristics such as higher education do not contribute to reducing occupational segregation in the labour market, as both males and females with higher levels of education are more segregated than those with low education. Finally, the study concludes that the devaluation and compensating differentials theories partially explain gender segregation in Pakistan.