| dc.description.abstract | A significant portion of existing research on gender segregation in the workplace is devoted to the study of gender dominance across professions, but few studies have focused on job segregation within specific industries. The purpose of this investigation is to examine patterns of gender segregation and clustering within the United States workforce, with special attention directed towards the retail industry. Following a quantitative analysis of recent employment statistics, findings indicate that segregation continues to exist at the employment class, industry, and occupation levels of the occupational hierarchy of the US workforce and the retail industry. Additionally, retail employment statistics appear to be heavily skewed by data relating to the cashier, retail salesperson, customer service, stock clerk, and first-line supervisor occupations, indicating that the presumed neutrality of this industry is centered, in large part, on these five groups. Finally, a qualitative analysis of the experiential knowledge of retail employees using psychological, sociological, and economic disciplinary lenses indicates that retail professionals are subject to stereotypes, bias, social norms, and calculations relating to self-worth or human capital. | en_US |
