Regional Patterns of Female Status in the United States

Abstract

Two measures of female status displayed dissimilar spatial distributions. Absolute status, measured by income, education, and occupation, was highest in the West and Northeast and lowest in the South. Female status was high where male status was high. The relative status of women compared to men, however, was high in the West and the rural Middle West and South but low in the Mountain West and industrial Northeast. Nationwide, where men enjoyed high absolute status, the relative status of women compared with men was poor.

Assessing the Impact of Location on Women's Labor Market Outcomes: A Methodological Exploration

“…In their study of variations in women's employment among fifty SMSAs, for example, Jones and Rosenfeld (1989) include a regional dummy variable as a proxy for regional variation in "sex role norms." Similarly, Lee and Schultz (1982) have used 1970 data for the 510 State Economic Areas of the United States to map women's status and have identified regional variation in women's status relative to men's. Sackmann and Haussermann (1994) trace out the development of different regional cultures as they have shaped female labor force participation within Germany.…”

Toward a Status-of-Women Index

“…In geography, Lee and Schultz have mapped patterns of the status of women in the US [5], and Lee, using the results of a study by two psychologists [ I ? ] , has mapped two female-status scores (social-education and economic) for seventy-five countries [6].…”