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It is more profitable for women to work where there are fewer men
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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It is known that on average women earn less than men. This has been confirmed by various studies over many years.
The latest large-scale international study, conducted by scientists from the Universities of Cambridge, UK, and Lakehead, Canada, has made it possible to clarify. Indeed, women receive less money for the same work as their male colleagues.
The study was published on December 18 in the scientific journal Sociology and examines the difference in wages between men and women who are employed in various fields of work.
However, if a certain field of activity employs a small number of men, then women often achieve greater career success and earn more than their male counterparts.
But if in a certain profession men outnumber women, or the number of women and men is approximately equal, then the fairer sex earns less and their career growth is slower.
According to the researchers, the smallest difference in wages between men and women was found in Slovenia, where women earn slightly more than men. And in Mexico, Brazil, Sweden and Hungary, representatives of the fair half of humanity earn almost at the same level as men. In these countries, the indicators of the distribution of labor between men and women were expressed to a greater extent, while in Japan, the Czech Republic, Austria and the Netherlands, women occupy the same positions as men, and the gap in their wages is higher. In the UK, wage inequality was higher than in other countries.
Professor Robert Blackburn and Dr Geerrts Rako of Cambridge University and Dr Jennifer German of Lakehead University used statistics from each country showing the levels of employment of women and men in each occupation, as well as data on the overall average pay gap. They correlated the two to show the relationship between occupational segregation and the pay gap.
"The more clearly the division of labor is expressed in a given country, the better it is for women. They have a better chance of building a career and receiving a decent salary," the researchers say in their article. "The higher the degree of segregation, the less discrimination based on gender is observed and the easier it is for a woman to achieve greater career heights. For example, the fewer male orderlies work in a given hospital, the more likely it is that a woman will occupy a leadership position."
"Perhaps our most important finding is that, at least in industrialized countries, the overall level of segregation between "female" and "male" occupations is correlated with the gender pay gap. The higher the level of labor division between men and women, the less of a career and salary advantage men enjoy."