Women’s Employment, State Legal Protection of Women’s Economic Rights, and Gender Prejudice: Evidence from 52 Countries

Recognizing that gender inequality involves not only material aspects but also non-material aspects, this paper asks to what extent the nature of women’s employment and legal protection of women’s economic rights within a country is associated with gender prejudice in that country. To answer these questions, this paper specifies individual level, country level, and cross-level interaction hypotheses, based on a multilevel, cross-national analysis of World Values Survey data from 52 countries over a 26 year period from 1981 to 2007. More specifically, I argue that three sets of women’s employment contexts are particularly important: 1) women’s labor force participation; 2) women’s representation in high status occupations; and 3) national laws that protect women’s rights to equal employment. I focus on the implications of these three factors on the level of prejudice. Results suggest that all three macro-level employment contexts are associated with a reduction of gender prejudicial attitudes in employment. However, the association was stronger for women than men, suggesting a widening gap between men and women. Based on results, I argue that policies that protect women’s economic rights are essential not only for improving women’s employment quantity and quality but also for changing gender norms on the ground.