The Workforce - Where Do Women Surpass Men?

The chart shows the percentage of women employed in the various occupational categories for 1975, 1995, and 2000. All data are for workers 16 years old and over. Women consistently have made up the majority of workers in the Technical, Sales, Administrative Support and Service Occupations categories. In the year 2000, the numbers of women and men employed in the Managerial and Professional fields were nearly equal. This represents a 15.1% jump in employment of women in these fields since 1975.

Women have not yet surpassed men in the other three occupational categories shown, though more women are working in each of the occupations in the Precision Production, Craft, and Repair fields. This includes jobs as mechanics and jobs in the construction trades More women are also working in Farming, Forestry and Fishing occupations.

Fewer women are working as Operators, Fabricators and Laborers. This is a trend not only for women, but also for men. Automation and foreign competition have reduced the jobs for machine operators, assemblers and inspectors in the last five years. These jobs make up most of the employment in this job category.

Service occupations also saw a decrease in women employed. Although most service jobs saw an increase in women employed, the private household services and protective services saw decreases. Also, more men than women are employed in protective service occupations and in cleaning and building service. Women still hold most of the service jobs, but more men are being hired, thereby slowly closing the employment gap in this sector.

The following list shows the occupations in which fewer women were employed in the year 2000 than in the recent past. The asterisk next to the occupation means fewer men are also employed in these jobs. This could be due to automation, as with machine and computer equipment operators, or to a decline in the occupation over all.

Managerial and professional specialty

Engineers

Lawyers and judges*

Technical, sales, and administrative support Technicians, except health, engineering, and science

Sales supervisors and proprietors

Sales workers, retail and personal services*

Computer equipment operators*

Secretaries, stenographers, and typists*

Mail and message distributing

Service occupations

Private household services*

Protective services*

Operators, fabricators, and laborers

Machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors*

Women are increasing their presence in many occupations, including those that were considered traditionally male domains — such as mechanical trades and construction. They continue to maintain a majority of the workforce in the traditionally female occupations — teaching and clerical work. Women have increased their presence in the managerial and professional fields in the past 25 years. If this trend continues, the percentage of women in these fields will surpass that of men in the near future.

The next panel discusses the gender differences in employment during times of economic downturn and recovery.

Sources: Wooten, Barbara H., "Gender differences in occupational employment", Monthly Labor Review, April 1997, p. 17. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Department of Labor. "9. Employed persons by occupation, sex and age", Current Population Survey. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001. U.S. Census Bureau. Special Populations Branch. Population Division. "Table 11. Major Occupation Group of the Employed Civilian Population 16 Years and Over by Sex: March 2000", Current Population Survey. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001.