Some sex differences are viewed as more problematic than others. For example, people express more concern about male-dominated occupations such as engineering than about female-dominated occupations such as nursing. This asymmetry might be explained, in part, by the fact that male-dominated jobs tend to be perceived as higher in status than female-dominated jobs. We investigated perceptions of male and female-dominated jobs of equal salary. In Study 1a (N=423), participants reviewed U.S. statistics about two male-dominated or two female-dominated jobs, one with an annual salary of 30K and one with an annual salary of 90K. Study 1b (N=387) was identical, except that the jobs had salaries of 50K and >110K. In Study 2 (N=612), participants again reviewed either male-dominated or female-dominated jobs but at two of the four salary levels. In both studies, women rated gender disparities in jobs as more problematic than men did. In addition, participants perceived male-dominated jobs as more problematic than female-dominated jobs, particularly those with higher salaries. These trends were not explained by participants’ perceptions of the status of the jobs, nor by (in Study 2) their reported desire for the jobs.
