Sex Roles and Internal Labor Market Structures: The "Female" Semi-Professions

Abstract

After drawing a distinction between internal and external labor market analysis, patterns in the sex structure of employment markets in nursing, social work, librarianship, and school teaching are examined. Findings indicate that the relative number of men employed in these “female” fields has increased and that males are disproportionately represented in the administrative components of the “female” semi-professions. The role which internal labor market structures play in determining the continuance of boundaries to “male” and “female” work is discussed.