Tackling Occupational Segregation: From Understanding to Action
Occupational segregation remains one of the most persistent drivers of gender inequality in the labour market. In a recent webinar hosted by Close the Gap, speakers from across policy, practice and education explored both the causes—and solutions—to this complex issue.
Alongside insights from Anna Ritchie Allan, Executive Director of Close the Gap, and Susie Heywood, Co-Founder of Gender Friendly Scotland, our Director Dilraj Sokhi Watson brought a focused lens on how occupational segregation operates across STEM.
Understanding the roots of inequality
Opening the session, Anna Ritchie Allan highlighted that occupational segregation is fundamentally about how women’s work is undervalued.
Despite consistently outperforming boys in education, women are more likely to be concentrated in lower-paid sectors such as care, retail, and education—roles often undervalued because they are associated with “women’s work.” This undervaluation contributes directly to persistent issues including the gender pay gap, in-work poverty, and limited progression opportunities.
Anna also emphasised the structural constraints that shape so-called “choices,” including:
- Lack of flexible and quality part-time work
- Unequal distribution of unpaid care
- Limited access to affordable childcare
These factors can trap women in lower-paid roles and restrict career progression.
STEM is not neutral
Building on this, Dilraj Sokhi Watson challenged the perception of STEM as a meritocratic and neutral environment.
She highlighted that STEM workplaces are highly gendered spaces, where cultures, norms, and practices influence who progresses—and who leaves.
While more women are entering STEM education, many do not remain in the workforce. This “leaky pipeline” is not due to a lack of ability, but rather systems that fail to support and retain women.
Drawing on research, Dilraj outlined key reasons why women leave technical roles:
- Lack of career progression opportunities
- Pay inequity and lack of recognition
- Toxic or exclusionary workplace cultures
She also pointed to the concept of “labour market sorting”, where gendered assumptions influence who is filtered into technical versus non-technical roles—contributing to both horizontal and vertical segregation.
The scale of the challenge in STEM
Across the UK, women remain underrepresented in high-paying technical fields such as engineering and computing, while being overrepresented in STEM-related but lower-paid roles.
At the same time, thousands of women leave the tech sector each year—representing not only a loss of talent, but a significant economic cost.
Dilraj emphasised that this is often misattributed to individual choices or caring responsibilities, when in reality, the issue lies within workplace systems and cultures.
Starting early: challenging gender stereotypes
Susie Heywood brought a crucial early-years perspective, highlighting how gender stereotypes are formed and reinforced from a young age.
She argued that a purely “gender-neutral” approach is not enough. Instead, active strategies are needed to:
- Challenge stereotypes
- Provide equitable opportunities
- Actively “compensate” for imbalances in experience and encouragement
Through practical examples, she demonstrated how early interventions can reshape children’s perceptions of what they can achieve—broadening future career possibilities.
From insight to action
While the causes of occupational segregation are complex, all speakers agreed on one thing: change requires coordinated action across the entire system.
From early education and societal norms to workplace culture and economic policy, every level has a role to play.
At Equate Scotland, this is exactly where our work is focused. As highlighted by Dilraj, we are:
- Supporting women into technical roles through targeted training
- Delivering leadership programmes to address progression barriers
- Working with employers to build inclusive cultures
- Collaborating across sectors to drive systemic change
A collective responsibility
Occupational segregation is not inevitable—and it is not simply the result of individual choices.
It is shaped by systems, structures, and assumptions. Addressing it requires us to rethink how we value work, how we design workplaces, and how we support people at every stage of their journey.
