The British Journal of Sociology
Volume 50 No. 1 March l999
pages 97-117
Abstract
This is a case study of gender and earnings in pharmacy - a profession characterized by its rapid recruitment of female practitioners. We try to account for disparities in earnings between male and female pharmacists in Ontario with the aid of human capital theory and gender stratification theory. Data is drawn from a random sample of 463 Ontario pharmacists.
We find a consistent sex gap in earnings regardless of occupational level of practitioners (i.e.. owner, manager or employee) and net of such factors as hours worked, commitment to work, hours devoted to child care, absences from the labor market, and years since graduation. Instead, the main reason why women in pharmacy earn less than males is because they remain employees throughout their careers. However, we are less successful at identifying the additional factors responsible for the depressed earnings of female practitioners.
We discuss our findings in light of the claims of gender stratification and human capital theory.
Keywords: gender, income,, pharmacy ,human capital, stratification
Julia Tanner
Department of Sociology
University of Toronto at Scar borough
Rhonda Cockerill
Department of Health Administration
University of Toronto
Jan Barnsley
Department of Health Administration
University of Toronto
and
A. Paul Williams
Department of Health Administration
University of Toronto