Gender Bias in Skills and Social Policies: The Varieties of Capitalism Perspective on Sex Segregation

Abstract

This article develops a novel skilled-based theory to explain patterns of occupational segregation by gender in advanced industrial societies. This new approach brings together insights from two critical literatures: the varieties of capitalism literature and feminist studies of welfare states. The central claim is that firm-specific skills discriminate against women, whereas general skills are more gender-neutral. This article thus attributes cross-national variations in occupational segregation to differences in national skill profiles: those countries in which a large number of employers rely on firm-specific skills experience greater degrees of occupational segregation by gender. This work also explores the potential interactive effects of social policy regimes and national skill profiles on occupational segregation by gender.