Gender based differences in occupational allocation in Turkey

Abstract

This study investigates the level of horizontal occupational segregation by gender in Turkey. The analysis period is 1965 to 2010. For the period 1965 to 2000, data comes from population censuses. For the period 2001 to 2010, household labor force survey data is used. For the whole period, data is collected from Turkish Statistical Institute. Five different segregation indices are calculated in order to understand whether different segregation indices yield similar results. It is found that while occupational segregation has been increasing from 1965 to 2000, it follows a declining trend between 2001 and 2010. Additionally, for the time period it is possible, indices are calculated using different aggregation levels of occupational classification in order to see the effect of data aggregation on segregation level. Parallel to the former studies in literature, the more aggregated the occupational classification, the smaller the degree of occupational segregation obtained. Using labor force data, the effect of the variables age and last school finished on occupational segregation are examined. Occupational segregation increases with age as recorded by all the indices but there is no particular relationship between occupational segregation and last school finished.