Gender and Occupational Mobility in Urban China during the Economic Transition

This paper examines the gender patterns of occupational mobility in post-reform urban China using a national representative dataset. The results show there are marked gender differences in both direction and self-reported cause of occupational mobility. With respect to the direction of mobility, married women are more likely than married men to undergo downward occupational changes, but are less likely to experience upward moves. In terms of the cause of mobility, compared to married men, married women are less likely to change jobs for career development or move to a new job assigned by the employer, but are more likely to change jobs for family reasons or as a result of involuntary separation. The results also show that the public-sector restructuring has increased the incidence of downward occupational mobility, more for women than men. The analysis suggests that women are disadvantaged in the occupational mobility process by a variety of social and institutional factors.