Institutional Racism

segregation. Contrary to this theory, however, over past 40 years, women's educational
attainment has outpaced men's. One area of education that might play a substantial role
in occupational segregation, however, is the dearth of women in science and
mathematics. STEM fields tend to be pipelines to higher paying jobs. Therefore, the lack
of women in higher paying jobs might be partially because they do not pursue science
and mathematics in school. This can be seen in areas such as finance, which is very
mathematics heavy and is also a very popular field for those who eventually rise to high
status positions in the private sector. This choice, like others, is often a personal
preference or made because of the cultural idea that women are not as good as men at
mathematics.
Work Experience Disparities
Human capital explanations also posit that men tend to rise to higher positions than
women because of a disparity in work experience between the genders. Indeed, the gap
between men and women's tenure rises with age, and female college graduates are
more likely than males to interrupt their careers to raise children. Such choices may also
be attributed to the gendered division of labor which holds women primarily responsible
for domestic duties.
Preferences
Human capital explanations posit additionally that men are more likely than women to
preference their work life over their family life. However, the General Social Survey
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