Sex and the Process of Status Attainment: A Comparison of Working Women and Men

Abstract

The process of educational, occupational and income attainment of working women and men is compared, utilizing data from representative national samples of women age 3044, their husbands and men of corresponding age. Comparisons are made separately for whites and nonwhites. The process and level of educational and occupational attainment is shown to be virtually identical for women and men, but women earn far less than men even when work experience and hours of work are taken into account. Married women are shown to earn less than single women, and the sources of this difference are analyzed.