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Gender and Occupation in Selected Industries (1895 and 1907)

Occupations were often gender-specific. Male laborers dominated the technical and engineering fields, whereas women were more prominent in the textile and clothing industries. Note how the number of self-employed artisans and professionals decreased as large-scale enterprises pushed independent producers toward the margins.

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Gender and Occupation in Selected Industries (1895 and 1907)

Sector/
occupational status

Percentage of men and women in various occupational status categories

Women as % of all gainfully employed individuals in the occupational category

Men

Women

 

1895

1907

1895

1907

1895

1907

Machine building/Electronics

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-employed

21.4

8.8

12.3

3.3

1.7

1.8

Homeworkers

0,5

0.4

1.9

2.0

10.2

19.8

Supervisory personnel

2.2

3.5

0.1

0.3

0.1

0.4

Technical employees

3.2

4.6

0.0

0.1

0.0

0.1

Commercial clerks

3.2

5.5

3.4

16.7

3.0

13.1

Skilled workers

46.8

49.6

12.6

11.7

0.8

1.1

Unskilled workers

22.7

27.5

69.7

65.8

8.3

10.6

Leather industry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-employed

26.8

22.2

9.1

5.2

2.2

2.4

Homeworkers

1.2

1.2

1.8

2.7

8.9

18.9

Supervisory personnel

1.0

2.2

0.2

0.5

1.5

2.2

Technical employees

0.1

0.2

0.0

0.0

0.0

1.8

Commercial clerks

1.7

3.4

1.3

6.0

4.7

15.5

Skilled workers

50.5

45.5

20.3

11.7

2.5

2.6

Unskilled workers

18.6

25.3

67.2

74.0

19.0

23.4

Metal extraction and processing

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-employed

16.8

11.6

9.8

4.4

2.4

2.3

Homeworkers

0.9

0.7

1.3

2.2

5.9

17.7

Supervisory personnel

0.9

2.0

0.1

0.2

0.4

0.7

Technical employees

0.1

0.3

0.0

0.0

0.1

0.5

Commercial clerks

0.9

2.0

1.1

5.3

5.0

14.9

Skilled workers

69.8

67.6

25.3

25.2

1.5

2.3

Unskilled workers

10.6

15.9

62.4

62.6

19.8

20.2

Textile industry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-employed

9.8

5.3

3.9

2.0

24.2

27.5

Homeworkers

14.9

7.2

13.3

8.4

41.9

53.4

Supervisory personnel

2.4

5.6

0.2

0.5

5.6

7.5

Technical employees

0.2

0.4

0.0

0.0

2.0

5.3

Commercial clerks

4.2

7.8

0.2

1.0

3.4

11.6

Skilled workers

40.0

37.2

41.5

36.6

45.7

49.2

Unskilled workers

28.4

36.5

40.9

51.5

53.9

58.1

Clothing industry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-employed

49.5

46.6

49.1

35.3

48.3

44.3

Homeworkers

6.0

5.0

9.2

8.4

59.0

64.0

Supervisory personnel

0.5

1.6

0.4

0.9

40.9

36.4

Technical employees

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

11.5

34.6

Commercial clerks

1.0

2.4

0.2

1.9

14.3

45.7

Skilled workers

40.8

38.9

34.9

40.0

44.7

52.0

Unskilled workers

2.2

5.5

6.3

13.6

73.3

72.2



A note on reading the table: of the 1,000 male workers in the Machine building / Electronics sector (1895), 214 are self-employed, 5 are homeworkers, 22 supervisory personnel, etc.; of 1,000 self-employed in this sector (1895), 17 are women, of 1,000 homeworkers, 102 are women, etc.


Source: Compiled from the tables in Angelika Willms, “Segregation auf Dauer? Zur Entwicklung des Verhältnisses von Frauenarbeit und Männerarbeit in Deutschland,“ [Ongoing Segregation? The Developing Relationship between Women’s and Men’s Work in Germany], in Walter Müller, Angelika Willms, and Johann Handel, eds., Strukturwandel der Frauenarbeit 1880-1890 [Structural Changes in Women’s Work 1880-1890]. Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verlag, 1983, pp. 63-67.

Reprinted in Gerhard A. Ritter und Klaus Tenfelde, Arbeiter im Deutschen Kaiserreich 1871 bis 1914 [Workers in the German Kaiserreich 1871 to 1914]. Bonn, 1992, p. 215.

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