The Pew Research Center provided an overview of women in today’s U.S. Workforce.
Women make up 35% of workers in the United States’ 10 highest-paying occupations, up from 13% in 1980. They have increased their presence in almost all of these occupations, which include physicians, lawyers, and pharmacists. The 35% remains well below women’s share of the overall U.S. workforce (47%).
There are barriers to women entering high-paying occupations. Gender differences in household and parenting responsibilities may play a role as could gender discrimination.
Workers in the 10 highest-paying occupations typically earn more than $100,000 a year—over twice the national average of $41,000.
Since 1980, the share of women dentists has more than quadrupled (from 7% to 33%), the share of women physicians has tripled (from 13% to 38%) and share of lawyers (from 14% to 40%). Women have only increased marginally in engineering fields (8%) and airline pilots (7%).
Currently, women earn 52% of law degrees, 51% of dental degrees and 50% of medical degrees.
Women now make up 63% of pharmacy degrees. Pharmacists are the only occupation in the top 10 where women make up the majority. This could be because the field offers flexible work hours and family friendly policies.
Conclusion
I graduated from the best high school in Houston, Texas in 1962. It is my belief that no woman in my class became a doctor, lawyer, dentist, engineer, etc. In conversing with some of the female graduates in my class, they indicated that the work model for women in that era restricted women’s vocational opportunities. The opportunities for women in the workplace is increasing and hopefully, the barriers for entry is decreasing.
