Are women over-represented in dead-end jobs? A Swedish study using empirically derived measures of dead-end jobs

It has been claimed that women experience fewer career opportunities than men do mainly because they are over-represented in 'Dead-end Jobs' (DEJs). Using Swedish panel data covering 1.1 million employees with the same employer in 1999 and 2003, measures of DEJ are empirically derived from analyses of wage mobility. The results indicate that women are over-represented in DEJs, especially in the public sector. The findings are interesting from (a) a methodological viewpoint, as it is indicated that the career opportunities associated with occupations can be indicated using one measure for both men and women, (b) the glass ceiling perspective, which arguably under-emphasizes gender inequality in relation to low positions, and (c) a class perspective, which basically ignores gender and sector in explaining career chances.