Ontwikkelingen in de functiekwaliteit van vrouwelijke en mannelijke afgestudeerden van de Landbouwuniversiteit Wageningen

This study reports on research into the causes of disparities in the quality of employment between female and male graduates of the Wageningen Agricultural University (WAU).

The data were collected by the Career Centre of the Alumni Association (NILI-MPW), in a continuing research project conducted since 1973 into labour force participation and the careers of Wageningen alumni. Between 1973 and 1988 the labour force participation of the women graduates increased from 58% to 79%, while that of the men declined from 94% to 89%. While there was thus a trend to more equal participation of women and men, there remained disparities in the quality of their jobs.

In this study the quality of a job is measured in terms of four indicators: (a) occupational prestige, (b) rate of remuneration, (c) the level of education required for the job, and (d) job security.

Chapter 1 contains a general introduction which raises two main questions:
1. Are the jobs of female and male graduates in 1988 unequal in quality? If so, how can various economic and sociological theories explain the existence of inequality? What is the relative weight of the factors causing this inequality?
2. Has the quality of jobs of female and male graduates become less unequal in the period from 1973 to 1988? If so, can this be explained by various economic and sociological theories?

Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 concentrate on the first question. Chapter 2 reviews three kinds of labour market theories that might explain disparities in the quality of employment. First, consideration is given to theories concentrating on the supply side of the labour market: Human Capital and Social Capital theories. Second, consideration is given to theories which concentrate on the demand side of the labour market: theories of labour market segmentation and of discrimination. Finally external factors which may affect labour force participation are considered.

Chapter 3 is concerned with deriving from theoretical models variables which may explain disparities between women and men in the quality of employment. These variables are used to formulate hypotheses to be tested in chapter 5. The diagram in chapter 3.5 shows the model which is used in the analysis. Human Capital theory provides six explanatory variables: (a) the unemployment rates of graduates with different specializations from the WAU, (b) whether or not the graduate has a doctorate, (c) the extent of participation in postgraduate studies, (d) the duration of work experience, (e) the number of working hours per week, and (f) career motivation. Social Capital theory provides two variables: (a) the influence of relationships and informal networks in obtaining the first job after graduation, and (b) the influence of social networks on occupational mobility. Theories of labour market segmentation provide two variables: (a) the segmentation between profit-oriented organizations and non-profit-oriented (including governmental) organizations, and (b) the availability of part-time jobs. Discrimination theories yield one variable, concerning the role of the employer in occupational mobility. Two variables are used in examining external factors which affect the interaction between the supply and demand sides of the labour market: marital status, and the importance of having a job near home.

Chapter 4 gives details of the quality of jobs of WAU graduates in 1988, The data were collected in the 1988 NILI-MPW survey of all those 9549 graduates who were in the labour force or were seeking employment. The response rate was 61%, giving 5791 respondents. On average the women (25% of the graduates) are younger than the men. In order to adjust for this, all data have been standardized for the year of graduation, using the ratios of females and males in the total graduate labour force as the standard population. On all four indicators of the quality of employment the female graduates scored lower than the male graduates. Each indicator contributed either one or two points to the score for the quality of the job, according to whether the score was below or above the median. Thus the score for quality of the job could be 0 - when unemployed but willing to work - or 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8. On average the women scored 5.07 and the men 6.05, a statistically significant difference.

The testing of hypotheses by statistical analysis of the data is carried out in chapter 5. The human capital variables which have most influence on the quality of the job are the length of working experience and the possession of a doctorate. Next in influence is for men the number of working hours per week, while for women career motivation helps in getting employment of higher quality. The negative influence of part-time work is stronger for men than for women. It is notable that greater human capital for women tends to lead to jobs with more security and a higher income, while for men it tends to lead to more prestigious jobs.

When seeking their first job, social capital is used more by female than by male graduates. However at this stage in the career the use of social capital has a negative effect on the quality of the job. Later in the career, when there is participation in more important networks, the use of social capital has a positive effect on the quality of employment. At that stage it is men who make more use of social capital in occupational mobility.

Institutional factors also affect the quality of employment of female and male graduates. WAU graduates have jobs of higher quality in profit-oriented than in non-profit-oriented organizations. A greater proportion of women than of men work in the latter type of organization. In both types of organization part-time jobs are of lower quality than fulltime jobs. In non-profit- oriented organizations women work part-time more often than in profit-oriented organizations. This segmentation between the two types of organization accounts for part of the disparity in the quality of employment. To examine the role of discrimination while seeking employment d variable is used which distinguishes between cases where the graduate was approached by the employer with the offer of a job, and those where the graduate obtained the job in some other way. Female graduates got jobs less often through approach by the employer (19%) than did men (28%). Because these jobs are of higher quality than those obtained in other ways, this gives women a disadvantage.

Marital status affects job quality differently for men and for women. For men, married status seems much more favourable than single status in relation to the quality of the job. Female graduates experience this also, but only during the first few years of their career. After about five years, when it appears that married women conduct a double career, i.e. in the labour force and in the household, then married women have jobs of lower quality than those of single women.

In order to evaluate the effects of the different variables, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis has been carried out. The variables used in this analysis accounted for 35 percent of the variance in the quality of jobs of female graduates, and 50 percent of that for male graduates. Several variables interfere or accumulate in their effects on the quality of employment.

The second part of the study, chapters 6, 7, and 8, concentrates on the second question, concerned with changes between 1973 and 1978. Chapter 6 gives a short survey of changes in Dutch society in the 1970s and 1980s which affect labour force participation. For changes in the disparities of quality of employment for men and women, attention is given to two major explanatory mechanisms: emancipation and inflation. Emancipation has brought more women into paid employment; it might also have enlarged the human and social capital of women, reduced the segmentation of the labour market, decreased the discrimination against women in the labour force, and made marital status less restrictive. Because of the rising educational level of the labour force, in 1988 academic education was less decisive for the quality of employment than it was in the 1970s. For instance, as more people have a university degree or more women a doctorate, these will be less exceptional and therefore less influential in obtaining high quality employment. Hypotheses are formulated on the effects of emancipation and inflation on changes in the disparities of quality of employment for female and male graduates.

Chapter 7 reports the changes in the quality of employment of WAU graduates in the period 1973 to 1988. Female graduates experienced improvement in all four indicators .of the quality of employment. At the same time the occupational prestige of the job and the educational level required for it declined slightly for male graduates. The average score for the quality of jobs of female graduates rose from 4.61 in 1973 to 5.07 in 1988, while that for male graduates declined from 6.35 in 1973 to 6.05 in 1988 (see Figures 7.1 to 7.5)

In chapter 8 the hypotheses formulated in chapter 6 are tested. From the results we learn that female graduates have enlarged their human capital. Factors that were restrictive in the 1970s were less restrictive in 1988: e.g. marital status, the social judgements on mothers with young children having paid employment, the provision of child centres, legislation on equal rights for men and women. Since 1973 it has become easier to choose to employ this enlarged human capital. At the same time inflation of human capital has affected the quality of jobs for both female and male graduates. Changes in institutional factors did not contribute to the reduction of the disparities in the quality of employment between female and male graduates. Chapter 9 summarizes and evaluates the main results.