A new study aims to debunk the idea that future family plans sort male and female college students into different careers. Despite decades of efforts to banish the idea of “jobs for men”—construction worker, firefighter, mechanic—and “jobs for women”—teacher, flight attendant, registered nurse—almost 69 percent of workers are in occupations that are dominated by one gender or the other, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Why does gender segregation in jobs persist? In a new study, Rice University social scientist Erin Cech dispels one popular explanation: that women choose more “flexible” (female-dominated) career fields that better accommodate their plans to raise children, while men choose “provider-friendly” (male-dominated) career fields that maximize their earning power to support their families.
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