The Extent of Occupational Segregation in the United States: Differences by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

This paper studies occupational segregation by ethnicity/race and gender by following a new approach that facilitates multigroup comparisons and econometric analyses to take into account group characteristics. The analysis shows that segregation is particularly intense in the Hispanic and Asian populations (the situation being more severe for the former given its higher concentration in low-paid jobs). A distinctive characteristic of Hispanics is that segregation is higher for men than for women although females are more concentrated in low-paid jobs. Segregation neither for women nor for African and Native Americans is reduced by taking human capital variables into account.