Career mobility and gender on the Swedish labour market

Abstract

Purpose

There is now a large amount of literature on gender wage differentials, but only a few studies have examined why men and women end up in different jobs and at different levels. This paper aims to study the extent of differences in career mobility between men and women.

Design/methodology/approach

The issue is analysed with the help of event history analysis based on Swedish event history data.

Findings

The authors find that differences do exist in career mobility between women and men. Women's chances of getting a better job are about half those of men. However, when analysing employees with more than 12 years in education, the difference between men and women is smaller. Part of the difference between women and men is explained by family‐related factors. Women spend much more time in family‐related non‐market activities and these factors also have a negative effect on their chances of career mobility.

Originality/value

This paper is useful to those wishing to examine the extent of differences in career mobility between men and women.

Citation

Granqvist, L. and Persson, H. (2005), "Career mobility and gender on the Swedish labour market", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 116-139. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437720510597630