During World War II, “women kept the country running by filling traditionally male jobs,” posts the National Women’s History Museum on its website.
Women realized that without a university degree, they couldn’t move into the higher paying jobs. “Without a university degree it was very difficult for women to enter the professions,” according to a short entry on the Spartacus Educational website.
By 1982 and 1981 respectively, women earned more bachelor's and master’s degrees than men, opening the doors to nontraditional female jobs.
“While women have long earned the majority of master’s degrees awarded in the U.S., the 2008–09 academic year was the first year ever that women earned the majority (50.4 percent) of doctorates as well,” according to a 2010 press release by the Council of Graduate Schools.
Working Women Under the Microscope
By the end of 2010, 47.2 percent of the total 139 million people employed in the United States were working women, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) press release.
More women (61.5 percent) held management, professional, and related positions. However, there were only five types of positions, less than one-fifth out of 28 positions, where a concentration of more women managers was reported: public relations (60 percent), human resources (69.3 percent), education (63 percent), medical and health services (72.5 percent), and social and community services (70.2 percent).
When it comes to the business and financial resources sector, the majority of women were found to be meeting and convention planners, tax examiners/preparers, accountants/auditors, and financial specialists. But men dominated the credit and financial analyst positions by a wide margin.
Traditional female jobs, which include the teaching profession, are still dominated by females at a ratio of almost four to three, with women-dominated librarian positions by more than four-fifths.
In the health service sector, the majority of women are, just as 100 years ago, nurses, physician assistants, occupational and physical therapists, and technicians, while men hold the majority of physician and surgeon positions.
According to a publication by the U.S. Department of Labor, there are 20 positions dominated by females, although the information is from 2009, and no later analysis has been performed. The positions include secretaries, registered nurses, elementary and high school teachers, cashiers, waitresses, maids, and customer service representatives—all typically female-oriented positions.
The Catalyst website suggests that in 2010, only 14.4 percent of all executive officer positions were held by women, an increase of less than 1 percent since 2009. At the same time, females accounted for 15.7 percent of all board members, an increase of just about 1.1 percent since 2006.
When it comes to women’s share of senior and corporate executive positions, it is still rather low at 17.7 percent by the end of 2010, with 3.3 percent more females garnering such positions since 2004.
“By 2010, nearly 65 million women had jobs, and 53 percent of these women worked in the three industries that employed the most women: education and health services; trade, transportation, and utilities; and local government. … From 1993 to 2010, education and health services has ranked first in employment of women, followed by trade, transportation and utilities, and local government,” according to a 2011 BLS report “Women at Work.”
Next…Inequality Seemingly Persists
