Female Labor Force Participation and the Organizational Experiences of Male Workers*

Using a sample of 387 male federal employees who responded to a questionnaire, this study tests two theoretical perspectives concerning the effect of women's labor force participation on men's work experiences. One theory, with roots in the external-conflict/intenial-cohesion and minority-group size/discrimination literature, predicts that the greater the representation of women in work groups, the greater the social solidarity among male workers and the less the social support for males from female coworkers. A second theory, derived primarily from Blau's exploration into the quantitative properties of social structure, suggests that the higher the proportional representation of females, the lower of social solidarity among male workers and the greater the social support for males from female coworkers. The findings support the latter, not the former, theoretical perspective.