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Abstract
This work extends the literature on the earnings of workers by sociologists such as Becker (1962), Reskin and Roos (1990), and Tomaskovic-Devey (1993). Much of the research conducted on variations in earnings has focused on male dominated occupations. These studies established that wage differences exist between jobs and occupations as well as the fact that female and minority workers have different patterns of earnings in predominantly male dominated jobs and occupations. Mainly this earlier research has found that female and minority workers who entered male dominated occupations earned less. The studies that have focused on a female occupation such as nursing (Mennemeyer & Gaumer 1983; Ault & Rutman 1998; Macpherson & Hirsch 1995; Spetz 2001 to name a few) are limited either by the variables used in the earnings models and/or the statistical method of analysis. This study seeks to see if the patterns that have been found in studies of earnings of workers in male dominated occupations exist in the female dominated occupation of nursing. If a different pattern in earnings exists within nursing, does one of the widely used theories - human capital, queuing or neoclassical economics - offer a better explanation for the earning variations? Finally this study extends the current knowledge on earnings by focusing on a female-dominated occupation, using more precise variables in order to create better specified models, using regression decomposition to more thoroughly examine patterns of discrimination and developing structural equation models to see paths or causal relationships by which earnings are determined. The results of this study show that male nurses receive the greatest return for their qualifications. The study also shows the minority women receive higher returns for their endowments than white women. Finally this study shows that foreign nurses receive higher returns for their endowments than native nurses. These findings suggest that nursing does not function in a similar manner as male dominated occupations. Neoclassical economic theory and Queuing theory provide the best explanation for the observed earning variations of nurses.