Trends toward gender equality largely stalled in the 1990s, but the progress
of women in management was mixed. Given the importance of managers as
actors in the reproduction of inequality, and managerial positions as rewards
in their own right, this study investigates the relative status of women in
management over the past two decades, using U.S. Decennial Census data
from 1980 to 2000. The authors find that women’s entry into management
occupations slowed markedly in the 1990s. Furthermore, after decreasing in
the 1980s, gender segregation among managers rebounded sharply upward in
the 1990s. However, greater segregation coincided with a decreasing gender
earnings gap, which largely resulted from narrowing gaps within integrated or
male-dominated managerial occupations. Finally, there remains a substantial
earnings penalty for managers who work in female-dominated occupations.