Occupational Segregation and the Tipping Phenomenon: The Contrary Case of Court Reporting in the United States

The “tipping” phenomenon, whereby an occupation switches from dominance by one demographic group to dominance by another, has occurred in various occupations. Multiple causes have been suggested for such switches, including several related to technological change, both through effects on the performance of the work and through the effect of changing demand for different occupations. The court reporting occupation provides a novel setting for testing the relevance of various proposed causes for the increased feminization of many occupations. In this case, many of the general correlates, including declining wages, are not found; rather the phenomenon is related to the earlier feminization of the clerical workforce and the increased identification of court reporting with clerical work.