Gender Role Spillover

Gender-role spillover is the tendency for a career or profession to be regarded as male or female, depending on the predominance of gender population in that career.

Sociologists (Ott, for example) have observed that when a profession is predominantely male and women comprise less than 15%, the men typically don't feel threatened. The men will typically treat the few women in a paternal water or regard them as "kid-sisters," "mother" or "sex provocateurs."

When the population of women reaches "critical mass," 20 to 40% - active resistance on the part of males occurs. Women begin competing for the few promotions, and men, unable to stereotype women into the three aforementioned categories begin to actively sexually harass them. Women, in turn, feel excluded from peer support groups and are denied the career enhancing benefits of being a part of the work culture.

Another aspect of gender-role spillover is the perception by men that when a large number of women are in a particular job, the prestige of the job is lowered. (Employers also accept this premise.)

In policing, men, who have always regarded law enforcement as a male domain, were likewise resistant and resentful to increasing numbers of women in their midst. They believed that "if a woman can do the job," it was no longer of high status.

Finally, the gender-role spillover of males into female dominated professions has had the opposite effect, and typically has required lower numbers of men (about 10%) to actually increase' the prestige of the job.

Learn more about this author, Jerry Curtis.
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