This text combines a case-study approach with significant theoretical development to challenge existing explanations of occupational segregation. Chapter 1 reviews issues raised by the conceptual status of "gender" in attempting to explain women's and men's employment experience and introduces the study that forms the core of the research--the investigation of gender segregation in two occupations: postal workers and telephonists. Chapter 2 examines the historical background to the creation and abolition of sex discrimination in the two occupations. Chapter 3 presents reasons for the continued imbalance in the distribution of female and male employees and proposes a distinction between full- and component-wage jobs as the major profile of the structuring of household and employment relations. Chapter 4 examines the prevalence of full- and component-wage jobs among men and women in full-time employment. Chapter 5 addresses significant variations in women's work histories and raises issues in the identification of general patterns of gender inequality as they are articulated in relationships between horizontal segregation, wages, and work histories. Chapter 6 explores the connections between variations in parenting and employment experience. Chapter 7 summarizes findings and discusses implications for explanations of employment. Appendixes include a description of the sample, list of interview quotations, the interview schedule, 306-item bibliography, and index. (YLB)