Gender Differences in the Geographic Breadth of Job Search

Examining Job Applications

Bibliographic Data

ID2244945
AuthorsKatariina Mueller-Gastell (0000-0001-5134-4880, Stanford University, corresponding author), D S Pedulla (0000-0002-4766-2090, Harvard University)
Year2025
Volume72
Issue2
Pages508-525
Publication date2025-05-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Problems (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0037-7791 • E-ISSN: 1533-8533
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/socpro/spad048
OpenAlexW4387361913
LanguageEN
References cited59

Where one lives and works is increasingly important in shaping economic opportunities. Yet, women, particularly partnered women, are less likely than men to relocate for a job, potentially serving as a key force in the production of gender labor market stratification. We examine why women's geographic job mobility is lower than men's, building on theoretical insights about the structural features of the labor market as well as how households make decisions. Our contribution arises from examining job applications rather than completed job moves. This enables us to examine the behavior of job seekers independent of employers' hiring decision-making that may shape the findings in scholarship that focuses on completed job moves. We draw on an original dataset that captures detailed, prospective information on the job applications submitted by a national, probability-based sample of job seekers. Our findings indicate that even at the application stage, partnered women - but not women who have never been married - are less likely than comparable men to apply for a job requiring a move. This pattern holds even after accounting for structural features of the labor market. Theories of gendered household dynamics appear to better explain our findings for partnered individuals than theories of household economic maximization

Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Job attitude · Job performance · Job satisfaction · Labour economics · Political science · Scholarship · Seekers · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Psychology · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis · Social Psychology · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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