Vive la difference: The gendering of occupational structures in a case study of Irish and French retailing

In this article, the gendering of occupational structures in 47 non-food shops in France and Ireland is investigated in order to broaden understanding of the factors contributing to this. Although gender stereotyped employment patterns were similar in both countries, occupational structures in the shops studied in Dublin were found to be more feminized than in those studied in Paris. It is argued that this is due to the type of labor demanded in the stores, and to the gender of the supplies of labor available for retail employment in each city. The gendered occupational structures that result from this interaction of demand and supply issues were also found to be related to the regulatory environments existing in each country. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.