These are photographs of real women who do work typically done by men....and love it. Read their complete stories in this book, Men's Work?
The advice to come, from the author and from these inspiring women, could change your life!
Friday, February 8, 2008
I. MENS WORK?
Non-traditional Occupations for women, as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor, are jobs that few women do. That is, they are jobs that are generally considered men's work.
People grow and change over the course of their career lives. Some change careers a few times as a part of their personal evolution. It is difficult to predict how much success and satisfaction we will find in even the most carefully chosen occupation. The least we can do is to be sure that we have looked at every single possibility, and that we have not allowed ourselves to be unduly influenced away from the best of those possibilities.
This book exists because evidence shows that women are ignoring many career fields and are flooding other, often less promising ones. It exists to encourage all women, especially girls in their formative years, to look at all the jobs that most women never consider when they plan their futures. It is said that the happiest people know what they want, and then go out and get it. First, though, they must know and understand what there is.If the differentiating terms ‘Men’s Work’ and ‘Women’s Work’ are controversial--good. Indeed, no work should be the domain of one gender or the other. But the fact is: as it stands right now, there is huge difference between the kind of work done by men and that which women do. This book will draw attention to a body of occupations for which these terms are, at this time, disturbingly appropriate.
People grow and change over the course of their career lives. Some change careers a few times as a part of their personal evolution. It is difficult to predict how much success and satisfaction we will find in even the most carefully chosen occupation. The least we can do is to be sure that we have looked at every single possibility, and that we have not allowed ourselves to be unduly influenced away from the best of those possibilities.
This book exists because evidence shows that women are ignoring many career fields and are flooding other, often less promising ones. It exists to encourage all women, especially girls in their formative years, to look at all the jobs that most women never consider when they plan their futures. It is said that the happiest people know what they want, and then go out and get it. First, though, they must know and understand what there is.If the differentiating terms ‘Men’s Work’ and ‘Women’s Work’ are controversial--good. Indeed, no work should be the domain of one gender or the other. But the fact is: as it stands right now, there is huge difference between the kind of work done by men and that which women do. This book will draw attention to a body of occupations for which these terms are, at this time, disturbingly appropriate.
II. WHAT ARE WOMEN DOING?
Do you know which of the following is true?
· A large percentage of physicians and attorneys are female.
· Women do all kinds of jobs
Only the first statement is true. The second is far from true.
The most startling feature of the world of working women in the new millenium is expressed in this shocking statistic: 42% of all women choose from only 6% of the jobs listed by the Department of Labor. Put another way, almost half of all women are contained in just twenty of the more than 359 different jobs listed. Imagine, of the 44 million women in today’s workforce, almost 20 million have flocked to just a few of all available jobs!
Women have made enormous progress preparing for and participating in the workforce in the last few decades. Women are in the majority on countless university campuses. They have entered the professions in greater numbers than ever. But, on the whole, they are still not engaged in the full spectrum of careers, blue or white-collar, available, and this fact is putting the brakes on their progress. It is time for more women to explore the remaining career territory, non-traditional occupations: currently Men’s Work.
What kinds of jobs are those twenty that attract so many women? Are they such wonderful, irresistible callings that nearly half of all women want them? Are they jobs that everyone, men and women, want if they can get them? Are they especially lucrative? Gratifying? Full of opportunity for advancement?
Here is the list of the twenty leading occupations of full-time, hourly-paid and salaried women in the United States, and the percentage of female workers in each field.
CAREER ___________PERCENTAGE WOMEN________
Preschool and kindergarten teachers 98.3
Secretaries and administrative assistants 96.3
Receptionists/information clerks 93.2
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks 91.4 Teacher assistants 90.0
Registered nurses 90.2
Nursing, psychiatric, home care aides 89.0
Maids and housekeeping cleaners 84.6
Office clerks, general 83.8
Elementary and middle school teachers 80.6
Cashiers 75.5
Customer services representatives 69.1
Waiters/waitresses 68.1
First line supervisors/managers, office and
administrative support 67.9
Accountants and auditors 58.3
Secondary school teachers 53.5
Financial managers 51.6
Retail salespersons 41.6
First line supervisors/managers of retail
sales workers 41.5
Cooks 39.3
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Annual Averages 2003.
These jobs have features in common. Most are considered nurturing, or support careers. Most of these jobs-- teachers, nurses, secretaries and maids, for example, are held almost exclusively by women. Men hardly ever do them. Most of these jobs do not lead to executive positions.
These are certainly some of the most important and necessary jobs in society. This work is valuable, and can be tremendously gratifying for its participants, if they have made the correct personal career choices. But the sheer numbers of women flooding the marketplace to do these jobs is cause for concern and examination.
Were all of these women aware of all of their career choices? Have they made the most careful, best possible choice for their particular needs and desires? Have they considered non-traditional job options that might pay more and provide more opportunity for advancement? Do they know enough about Men’s Work to disqualify non-traditional careers? Do they know that the women who do non-traditional work often find themselves surprisingly satisfied relative to many in traditional women’s careers?
Studies show that women tend to assist, support, facilitate and care for others in their work, rather than decide, delegate, invent or direct, which men are more inclined to do in their work. That’s all well and good, provided it is the result of a conscious choice of each woman, with priorities set and all things considered. Many women love a supportive, nurturing role. Many women care more about the psychological benefits than the financial gains to be had by working. But if good earnings, promotions, challenge and demand-based opportunity are high on a woman’s list of priorities, she needs to take a hard look at non-traditional occupations when choosing a career.
Without a doubt, women have made inroads over the years, into fields once dominated by male workers. A number of professions that once had few women now have many, and are no longer mostly men’s work in our society. Veterinarians, attorneys, doctors, are now just about as likely to be women as men. Still, there are dozens and dozens of jobs that women hardly ever take. Much of this Men’s Work requires no more skill, strength or risk, and pays significantly more than the many of the jobs women are now choosing. Only 15% of women are participating in dozens of jobs traditionally done by men.
If the block that is keeping women from these jobs can be eliminated, women will receive greater career rewards. If women begin making some different choices in work type and work style, there will be a new surge away from the gender gap in the workplace.
· A large percentage of physicians and attorneys are female.
· Women do all kinds of jobs
Only the first statement is true. The second is far from true.
The most startling feature of the world of working women in the new millenium is expressed in this shocking statistic: 42% of all women choose from only 6% of the jobs listed by the Department of Labor. Put another way, almost half of all women are contained in just twenty of the more than 359 different jobs listed. Imagine, of the 44 million women in today’s workforce, almost 20 million have flocked to just a few of all available jobs!
Women have made enormous progress preparing for and participating in the workforce in the last few decades. Women are in the majority on countless university campuses. They have entered the professions in greater numbers than ever. But, on the whole, they are still not engaged in the full spectrum of careers, blue or white-collar, available, and this fact is putting the brakes on their progress. It is time for more women to explore the remaining career territory, non-traditional occupations: currently Men’s Work.
What kinds of jobs are those twenty that attract so many women? Are they such wonderful, irresistible callings that nearly half of all women want them? Are they jobs that everyone, men and women, want if they can get them? Are they especially lucrative? Gratifying? Full of opportunity for advancement?
Here is the list of the twenty leading occupations of full-time, hourly-paid and salaried women in the United States, and the percentage of female workers in each field.
CAREER ___________PERCENTAGE WOMEN________
Preschool and kindergarten teachers 98.3
Secretaries and administrative assistants 96.3
Receptionists/information clerks 93.2
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks 91.4 Teacher assistants 90.0
Registered nurses 90.2
Nursing, psychiatric, home care aides 89.0
Maids and housekeeping cleaners 84.6
Office clerks, general 83.8
Elementary and middle school teachers 80.6
Cashiers 75.5
Customer services representatives 69.1
Waiters/waitresses 68.1
First line supervisors/managers, office and
administrative support 67.9
Accountants and auditors 58.3
Secondary school teachers 53.5
Financial managers 51.6
Retail salespersons 41.6
First line supervisors/managers of retail
sales workers 41.5
Cooks 39.3
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Annual Averages 2003.
These jobs have features in common. Most are considered nurturing, or support careers. Most of these jobs-- teachers, nurses, secretaries and maids, for example, are held almost exclusively by women. Men hardly ever do them. Most of these jobs do not lead to executive positions.
These are certainly some of the most important and necessary jobs in society. This work is valuable, and can be tremendously gratifying for its participants, if they have made the correct personal career choices. But the sheer numbers of women flooding the marketplace to do these jobs is cause for concern and examination.
Were all of these women aware of all of their career choices? Have they made the most careful, best possible choice for their particular needs and desires? Have they considered non-traditional job options that might pay more and provide more opportunity for advancement? Do they know enough about Men’s Work to disqualify non-traditional careers? Do they know that the women who do non-traditional work often find themselves surprisingly satisfied relative to many in traditional women’s careers?
Studies show that women tend to assist, support, facilitate and care for others in their work, rather than decide, delegate, invent or direct, which men are more inclined to do in their work. That’s all well and good, provided it is the result of a conscious choice of each woman, with priorities set and all things considered. Many women love a supportive, nurturing role. Many women care more about the psychological benefits than the financial gains to be had by working. But if good earnings, promotions, challenge and demand-based opportunity are high on a woman’s list of priorities, she needs to take a hard look at non-traditional occupations when choosing a career.
Without a doubt, women have made inroads over the years, into fields once dominated by male workers. A number of professions that once had few women now have many, and are no longer mostly men’s work in our society. Veterinarians, attorneys, doctors, are now just about as likely to be women as men. Still, there are dozens and dozens of jobs that women hardly ever take. Much of this Men’s Work requires no more skill, strength or risk, and pays significantly more than the many of the jobs women are now choosing. Only 15% of women are participating in dozens of jobs traditionally done by men.
If the block that is keeping women from these jobs can be eliminated, women will receive greater career rewards. If women begin making some different choices in work type and work style, there will be a new surge away from the gender gap in the workplace.
III. WHAT ARE WOMEN NOT DOING?
Are you surprised to hear that there are hardly any women helping to figure out ways to run pipelines of safe drinking water to people in developing countries? (Did you know that water engineers save more lives than doctors?)
There are hardly any women planning the next big ‘step for mankind’ in space exploration, or even cyberspace exploration!
The secrets of the universe lie in the puzzles of physics and math. The way things are going, odds are it won’t be a woman who unlocks them.
When a stylish new home is completed, a woman might have selected drapes and room colors, but chances are that a woman did not have the fun of designing the dramatic new building, nor did a woman likely do the beautiful marquetry woodwork, or install the tile.
The pest-control technician who comes by to spray once a month will probably not be a woman. Whoever it is will earn a lot more than the housekeeper, probably with less effort.
Non-traditional occupations (NTOs), jobs usually done by men, include those in the building trades, technical and transportation fields, computer sciences, math and science teaching, computer science and the many different fields of engineering. Additionally, and importantly, most high-level business executives are men. Women might be alarmed to learn that, at the start of 2006, only seven of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies had a female CEO. That’s down from nine the previous year. That’s less than 2%! Women who run whole countries are probably less rare!
Here is the U.S. Department of Labor’s long list of most of the jobs that very few women do: those in which women comprise 25% or less of the workforce. Some of these jobs include a scant few or, in terms of statistical significance, no women.
JOBS WITH FEW WOMEN
AEROSPACE ENGINEER
AIRCRAFT PILOT
AIRCRAFT MECHANIC
ARCHITECT
AUTOMOBILE SERVICE TECHNICIAN AND MECHANIC
BAGGAGE PORTER/BELLHOP
BARBER
BROADCAST AND SOUND ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN
BRICKMASON/BLOCKMASON/STONEMASON
BUS/TRUCK MECHANIC
COIN-OPERATED/VENDING/AMUSEMENT MACHINE SERVICER/REPAIRER
CHEF/HEAD COOK
CHEMICAL ENGINEER
CIVIL ENGINEER
COIN-OPERATED/VENDING/AMUSEMENT MACHINE SERVICER/REPAIRER
COMPUTER HARDWARE ENGINEER
COURIER
COST ESTIMATOR
CLEANER/DETAILER OF VEHICLES AND EQUIP.
CLERGY
COMPUTER/AUTOMATED TELLER/OFFICE MACHINE REPAIR
CHEMICAL PROCESSING MACHINE OPERATOR
CRUSHING/GRINDING/POLISHING/MIXING/BLENDING WORKER
CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING INSPECTOR
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER
CUTTING WORKER
CABINET MAKER/BENCH CARPENTER
CRANE AND TOWER OPERATOR
CONSTRUCTION LABORER
CARPET/FLOOR/TILE INSTALLER
CEMENT MASON
CARPENTER
DISHWASHER
DETECTIVE, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR
DRAFTER
DRILLING/BORING MACHINE OPERATOR
DRIVER/SALES WORKERS, TRUCK DRIVER
DRYWALL INSTALLER/CEILING TILE INSTALLER/TAPER
DREDGE/EXCAVATING/LOADING MACHINE OPERATOR
ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN
ELECTRICIAN
ELECTRICAL POWER LINE INSTALLERS/REPAIRER
ENGINEER, ALL OTHER
ENGINEERING MANAGERS
FARMER, RANCHER
FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR OF POLICE AND DETECTIVES
FARM, RANCH, AGRICULTURAL MANAGER
FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR OF MECHANICS/INSTALLERS/REPAIRERS
TRANSPORTATION/MATERIAL MOVING
REFUSE COLLECTOR
FIREFIGHTER
FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR OF FARMING/FISHING/FORESTRY WORKERS
CONSTRUCTION TRADES/EXTRACTION WORKERS
GRINDING/LAPPING/BUFFING MACHINE OPERATOR
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE WORKER
GLAZIER
HEAVY VEHICLE AND MOBILE EQUIP SERVICE
HEATING/AIR CONDITIONING/REFRIGERATION MECHANIC, INSTALLER
HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE WORKER
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER
INDUSTRIAL TRUCK AND TRACTOR OPERATOR
INDUSTRIAL REFACTORY MACHINERY MECHANIC
JOB PRINTER
LOGGING WORKER
MECHANICAL ENGINEER
METAL WORKER/PLASTIC WORKER
MISC CONSTRUCTION
MILLWRIGHT
METER READER
MOTOR VEHICLE/ ALL OTHER
MATERIAL MOVING WORKER
MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR WORKER, GENERAL
OPERATING ENGINEERS AND OTHER
PAINTER
PARTS SALESPERSON
PRECISION INSTRUMENT AND EQUIPMENT REPAIR
POLICE AND SHERIFF’S PATROL OFFICER
PARKING LOT ATTENDANT
PLASTERER/STUCCO MASON
PLUMBER, PIPELAYER, PIPEFITTER, STEAMFITTER
REFUSE/RECYCLABLE COLLECTOR
RAILROAD CONDUCTOR/YARDMASTER
SUPERVISOR OF PROTECTIVE SERVICE WORKERS
SECURITY GUARD/GAMING SURVEILLANCE OFFICER
SURVEYING AND MAPPING TECHNICIAN
SYSTEM OPERATOR
SHEET METAL WORKER
SECURITY AND FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS INSTALLER
SERVICE STATION ATTENDANT
SAWING MACHINE SETTER/OPERATOR
SALES ENGINEER
STRUCTURAL IRON/STEELWORKER
SMALL ENGINE MECHANIC
TELECOMMUNICATIONS LINE INSTALLER/REPAIRER
TOOL AND DIE MAKER
TAXI DRIVER/CHAUFFEUR
UPHOLSTERER
WELDER/SOLDERER
WATER/WASTE TREATMENT PLANT SYSTEM OPERATOR
As anyone can see, the list of fields women now don’t enter is very long. Furthermore, this list does not account for the fact that, even in those businesses that do interest and include women, females are not well-represented in the highest-level jobs. This significant fact will be discussed later.
When we consider both the huge numbers of women going into just a few different careers, and the very few women in dozens of male-dominated jobs, we can see that women really have tunnel vision when it comes to choosing jobs. We will later explore the possible reasons for this narrow perspective.
The exact profile of women’s participation in jobs varies from region to region. Recently Washington State, for example, looked at the census statistics for their state. Their statistics differed somewhat from the national percentages. For example, 6.9 percent of firefighters in that state were women, almost twice the national number. They had more than the average number of female clergy, with 17.1%, and way fewer female dentists with 16.5%. Among job categories with many workers, there were only 425 women among 20,300 automotive mechanics in the state. That’s just 2.1 percent. There were 37,144 carpenters in Washington, but only 954 women, for 2.6 percent.
Regional differences might demonstrate that the surrounding culture can influence a woman’s job choices. Each woman’s choice to be a firefighter can inspire another woman, and it could take just a few such inspiring women in a community to change a statistic significantly.
Women might be more motivated to start the trend toward “men’s jobs” themselves if they consider the following: women doing non-traditional jobs are making 20-30% more than women in equivalent traditional jobs.
Are college-educated women a lot more interested in non-traditional jobs than other women? It doesn’t look like it.
As of 1999, even at the most progressive universities in the U.S., there was only, on the average, one female for every five male engineering students. It was worse in the Computer Science field, with a whopping 83% of the bachelor degrees in computer science and computer engineering going to men.
Cisco Systems paid IDC, an analyst firm, to look at the shortage of skilled networking engineers, who install, maintain, and operate computer systems. According to Marianne Kolding, “While the whole information technology industry suffers from low female participation rates, it was surprising to see just how few women see networking as a suitable profession.” It seems women see this field as too ‘nerdy’. Only about 7% of the workforce in this field is female. Mike Couzens of Cisco reports that females surveyed still perceive networking as “too technical for women”.
Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business contains almost a third of all its undergraduate students. The gender gap in this major is second only to that in the engineering school, with 64% of its 1,010 upperclassmen being men. Of the 108 Management majors, 78% were men in 2004. Of the Finance majors, 76% were male---this at Notre Dame, a school with approximately equal numbers of men and women, the best and the brightest. Some will probably wind up CEOs of those Fortune 500 companies.
There are many jobs that can currently be accurately described as Men’s Work, because men, by and large, do them. On average, the jobs pay 33% more, to start. This work is blue-collar, white collar, indoor and outdoor. These jobs are sometimes physically challenging and often mentally demanding.Men’s Work? Why?
There are hardly any women planning the next big ‘step for mankind’ in space exploration, or even cyberspace exploration!
The secrets of the universe lie in the puzzles of physics and math. The way things are going, odds are it won’t be a woman who unlocks them.
When a stylish new home is completed, a woman might have selected drapes and room colors, but chances are that a woman did not have the fun of designing the dramatic new building, nor did a woman likely do the beautiful marquetry woodwork, or install the tile.
The pest-control technician who comes by to spray once a month will probably not be a woman. Whoever it is will earn a lot more than the housekeeper, probably with less effort.
Non-traditional occupations (NTOs), jobs usually done by men, include those in the building trades, technical and transportation fields, computer sciences, math and science teaching, computer science and the many different fields of engineering. Additionally, and importantly, most high-level business executives are men. Women might be alarmed to learn that, at the start of 2006, only seven of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies had a female CEO. That’s down from nine the previous year. That’s less than 2%! Women who run whole countries are probably less rare!
Here is the U.S. Department of Labor’s long list of most of the jobs that very few women do: those in which women comprise 25% or less of the workforce. Some of these jobs include a scant few or, in terms of statistical significance, no women.
JOBS WITH FEW WOMEN
AEROSPACE ENGINEER
AIRCRAFT PILOT
AIRCRAFT MECHANIC
ARCHITECT
AUTOMOBILE SERVICE TECHNICIAN AND MECHANIC
BAGGAGE PORTER/BELLHOP
BARBER
BROADCAST AND SOUND ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN
BRICKMASON/BLOCKMASON/STONEMASON
BUS/TRUCK MECHANIC
COIN-OPERATED/VENDING/AMUSEMENT MACHINE SERVICER/REPAIRER
CHEF/HEAD COOK
CHEMICAL ENGINEER
CIVIL ENGINEER
COIN-OPERATED/VENDING/AMUSEMENT MACHINE SERVICER/REPAIRER
COMPUTER HARDWARE ENGINEER
COURIER
COST ESTIMATOR
CLEANER/DETAILER OF VEHICLES AND EQUIP.
CLERGY
COMPUTER/AUTOMATED TELLER/OFFICE MACHINE REPAIR
CHEMICAL PROCESSING MACHINE OPERATOR
CRUSHING/GRINDING/POLISHING/MIXING/BLENDING WORKER
CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING INSPECTOR
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER
CUTTING WORKER
CABINET MAKER/BENCH CARPENTER
CRANE AND TOWER OPERATOR
CONSTRUCTION LABORER
CARPET/FLOOR/TILE INSTALLER
CEMENT MASON
CARPENTER
DISHWASHER
DETECTIVE, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR
DRAFTER
DRILLING/BORING MACHINE OPERATOR
DRIVER/SALES WORKERS, TRUCK DRIVER
DRYWALL INSTALLER/CEILING TILE INSTALLER/TAPER
DREDGE/EXCAVATING/LOADING MACHINE OPERATOR
ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN
ELECTRICIAN
ELECTRICAL POWER LINE INSTALLERS/REPAIRER
ENGINEER, ALL OTHER
ENGINEERING MANAGERS
FARMER, RANCHER
FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR OF POLICE AND DETECTIVES
FARM, RANCH, AGRICULTURAL MANAGER
FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR OF MECHANICS/INSTALLERS/REPAIRERS
TRANSPORTATION/MATERIAL MOVING
REFUSE COLLECTOR
FIREFIGHTER
FIRST LINE SUPERVISOR OF FARMING/FISHING/FORESTRY WORKERS
CONSTRUCTION TRADES/EXTRACTION WORKERS
GRINDING/LAPPING/BUFFING MACHINE OPERATOR
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE WORKER
GLAZIER
HEAVY VEHICLE AND MOBILE EQUIP SERVICE
HEATING/AIR CONDITIONING/REFRIGERATION MECHANIC, INSTALLER
HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE WORKER
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER
INDUSTRIAL TRUCK AND TRACTOR OPERATOR
INDUSTRIAL REFACTORY MACHINERY MECHANIC
JOB PRINTER
LOGGING WORKER
MECHANICAL ENGINEER
METAL WORKER/PLASTIC WORKER
MISC CONSTRUCTION
MILLWRIGHT
METER READER
MOTOR VEHICLE/ ALL OTHER
MATERIAL MOVING WORKER
MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR WORKER, GENERAL
OPERATING ENGINEERS AND OTHER
PAINTER
PARTS SALESPERSON
PRECISION INSTRUMENT AND EQUIPMENT REPAIR
POLICE AND SHERIFF’S PATROL OFFICER
PARKING LOT ATTENDANT
PLASTERER/STUCCO MASON
PLUMBER, PIPELAYER, PIPEFITTER, STEAMFITTER
REFUSE/RECYCLABLE COLLECTOR
RAILROAD CONDUCTOR/YARDMASTER
SUPERVISOR OF PROTECTIVE SERVICE WORKERS
SECURITY GUARD/GAMING SURVEILLANCE OFFICER
SURVEYING AND MAPPING TECHNICIAN
SYSTEM OPERATOR
SHEET METAL WORKER
SECURITY AND FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS INSTALLER
SERVICE STATION ATTENDANT
SAWING MACHINE SETTER/OPERATOR
SALES ENGINEER
STRUCTURAL IRON/STEELWORKER
SMALL ENGINE MECHANIC
TELECOMMUNICATIONS LINE INSTALLER/REPAIRER
TOOL AND DIE MAKER
TAXI DRIVER/CHAUFFEUR
UPHOLSTERER
WELDER/SOLDERER
WATER/WASTE TREATMENT PLANT SYSTEM OPERATOR
As anyone can see, the list of fields women now don’t enter is very long. Furthermore, this list does not account for the fact that, even in those businesses that do interest and include women, females are not well-represented in the highest-level jobs. This significant fact will be discussed later.
When we consider both the huge numbers of women going into just a few different careers, and the very few women in dozens of male-dominated jobs, we can see that women really have tunnel vision when it comes to choosing jobs. We will later explore the possible reasons for this narrow perspective.
The exact profile of women’s participation in jobs varies from region to region. Recently Washington State, for example, looked at the census statistics for their state. Their statistics differed somewhat from the national percentages. For example, 6.9 percent of firefighters in that state were women, almost twice the national number. They had more than the average number of female clergy, with 17.1%, and way fewer female dentists with 16.5%. Among job categories with many workers, there were only 425 women among 20,300 automotive mechanics in the state. That’s just 2.1 percent. There were 37,144 carpenters in Washington, but only 954 women, for 2.6 percent.
Regional differences might demonstrate that the surrounding culture can influence a woman’s job choices. Each woman’s choice to be a firefighter can inspire another woman, and it could take just a few such inspiring women in a community to change a statistic significantly.
Women might be more motivated to start the trend toward “men’s jobs” themselves if they consider the following: women doing non-traditional jobs are making 20-30% more than women in equivalent traditional jobs.
Are college-educated women a lot more interested in non-traditional jobs than other women? It doesn’t look like it.
As of 1999, even at the most progressive universities in the U.S., there was only, on the average, one female for every five male engineering students. It was worse in the Computer Science field, with a whopping 83% of the bachelor degrees in computer science and computer engineering going to men.
Cisco Systems paid IDC, an analyst firm, to look at the shortage of skilled networking engineers, who install, maintain, and operate computer systems. According to Marianne Kolding, “While the whole information technology industry suffers from low female participation rates, it was surprising to see just how few women see networking as a suitable profession.” It seems women see this field as too ‘nerdy’. Only about 7% of the workforce in this field is female. Mike Couzens of Cisco reports that females surveyed still perceive networking as “too technical for women”.
Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business contains almost a third of all its undergraduate students. The gender gap in this major is second only to that in the engineering school, with 64% of its 1,010 upperclassmen being men. Of the 108 Management majors, 78% were men in 2004. Of the Finance majors, 76% were male---this at Notre Dame, a school with approximately equal numbers of men and women, the best and the brightest. Some will probably wind up CEOs of those Fortune 500 companies.
There are many jobs that can currently be accurately described as Men’s Work, because men, by and large, do them. On average, the jobs pay 33% more, to start. This work is blue-collar, white collar, indoor and outdoor. These jobs are sometimes physically challenging and often mentally demanding.Men’s Work? Why?
IV. WHY DO MEN MAKE MORE MONEY?
WHY DO MEN MAKE MORE MONEY?
Before we look closer at women in the workplace, lets investigate the claim by some that women are simply not financially rewarded in a fair manner for the work they do.
The difference in the status of women and men in the workplace is most often reported as a wage gap. No wonder, as the numbers make good inflammatory headlines. Since women hit a peak, earning 77% of men’s earnings in 1992, they have slipped back to 75.5%, according to the 2004 U.S. Census. That’s comparing full-time year-round workers. Women earn much less (44% of men’s wages) if you include those who work part-time or dip in and out of the job market to tend to family. ****
On the face of it, this seems just plain unfair, but the numbers are misleading. It is not always appropriate to use terms like ‘equality’ or ‘parity’ in discussing the male/female wage gap. Care must be taken, with all the variables involved, to avoid the classic apples-to-oranges comparison.
The difference between the status of men and that of women at work is better described as a gender gap than a wage gap. There is more of a difference in how men and women work (the jobs they choose, the effort they put in) than there is a difference in pay for the same work.
Instances in which a woman earns less pay for doing exactly the same work as a man for exactly the same number of hours probably account for a small part of the disparity. This type of obvious gap is being continually narrowed by lawsuits and company salary reviews.
It is important that women look at everything else that has kept the gender gap alive in the workplace. Once they have a real understanding of the complexities of the issue, they will see that the situation is far from out of their control. There is much that any woman can do right now to position herself to reach any career goal. At the same time, she will be changing the state of the female workforce.
The facts are; women work differently than men, and make different choices than men.
The main reason women make less money than men is that they choose different jobs than men.
As we’ve shown, huge numbers of women flock to occupations in health care, teaching, office support, food service, retail, cosmetology and child-care.
With nearly half of women going into just 5% of the available job choices, salaries stay low relative to level of effort. This is consistent with the laws of supply and demand that characterize the capitalistic economy and is considered by many to be one of the strengths of our democracy. Its effect is not a good one for hard workers who are easy to come by. Its effect is a very good one for rarities in the job market or for entrepeneurs with a specialty niche.
Further inhibiting their lucrativeness, these twenty occupations have evolved in the female job culture. Historically, these jobs have often provided secondary or supplementary income for families. Such jobs have not traditionally paid as much as those which have always been held by the main breadwinner for a family.
Another reason women make less money than men is that women do not rise to top executive levels proportionate to their numbers in the workplace.
There is much talk of the “glass ceiling”, that is, a barrier that’s hard to see or define, but that is nevertheless there, and keeps women from rising to the highest levels of business.
There is no doubt women start falling off the corporate ladder as they approach the highest rungs. While it is true that the CEO club is traditionally a boys club, (in varying degrees depending upon the business), its members comfortable in their exclusive world of men’s talk, fine cigars, business golf, and Laker’s tickets, it is not really a closed club. It simply has not contained many women in the past, and so has developed a leathery male ambience. Studies show that only a small number of women embrace and demonstrate the degree of ambition necessary to advance to the very highest levels of responsibility in top tier companies. There is, therefore, a catch-22. The existence of fewer female than male candidates creates a more universally male atmosphere for conducting business and making decisions. This atmosphere is less welcoming and comfortable for a woman than a man, and it is therefore difficult for both men and women to visualize females in the topmost roles. The context is similar to that in politics. Nevertheless, women can and do rise to the top, when they decide to pursue their careers as dogmatically as their male counterparts. Often they simply do not decide to do so.
Not only are there only seven female CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies, but of the twenty-four top executives working for those women, only three are women! Twenty-one are men who put in the time and quality effort it took to be selected for their positions by their woman CEO.
The Department of Labor list illustrates the numbers of women in non-traditional wage-paying and-salaried employment, but doesn’t really address women-owned businesses or commission-based jobs.
What about female business owners, compared to male entrepeneurs?
The good news is that privately held, majority-owned (not just a partner to the hubby) women-owned businesses account for about 28% of businesses in the country. Even better news is that the fastest growth rates for women-owned businesses are in non-traditional industries, like construction, and agricultural services.
The not-so-good news is that more than half of women-owned firms are still in the service sector (home cleaning, day care, home health care, etc), and many are in retail. Only 9% of women-owned businesses are in finance, insurance, or real estate. Also, as of 1998, while 58% of men business owners had $50,000 or more in credit available to them, a measure of success, only 34% of women did. In 2000, $89.8 billion in venture capital investments went to firms generally. How much of that went to firms with women CEOs? Only five percent! Generally, women-owned businesses are smaller and less sophisticated than businesses in general.
In a hard look at the state of women’s work, women must face the fact that women have, for many reasons, declined jobs in many lucrative fields. They have chosen to do work that doesn’t pay as well. They have also chosen not to compete as aggressively as men for a place on the executive (leadership) track.
Before we look closer at women in the workplace, lets investigate the claim by some that women are simply not financially rewarded in a fair manner for the work they do.
The difference in the status of women and men in the workplace is most often reported as a wage gap. No wonder, as the numbers make good inflammatory headlines. Since women hit a peak, earning 77% of men’s earnings in 1992, they have slipped back to 75.5%, according to the 2004 U.S. Census. That’s comparing full-time year-round workers. Women earn much less (44% of men’s wages) if you include those who work part-time or dip in and out of the job market to tend to family. ****
On the face of it, this seems just plain unfair, but the numbers are misleading. It is not always appropriate to use terms like ‘equality’ or ‘parity’ in discussing the male/female wage gap. Care must be taken, with all the variables involved, to avoid the classic apples-to-oranges comparison.
The difference between the status of men and that of women at work is better described as a gender gap than a wage gap. There is more of a difference in how men and women work (the jobs they choose, the effort they put in) than there is a difference in pay for the same work.
Instances in which a woman earns less pay for doing exactly the same work as a man for exactly the same number of hours probably account for a small part of the disparity. This type of obvious gap is being continually narrowed by lawsuits and company salary reviews.
It is important that women look at everything else that has kept the gender gap alive in the workplace. Once they have a real understanding of the complexities of the issue, they will see that the situation is far from out of their control. There is much that any woman can do right now to position herself to reach any career goal. At the same time, she will be changing the state of the female workforce.
The facts are; women work differently than men, and make different choices than men.
The main reason women make less money than men is that they choose different jobs than men.
As we’ve shown, huge numbers of women flock to occupations in health care, teaching, office support, food service, retail, cosmetology and child-care.
With nearly half of women going into just 5% of the available job choices, salaries stay low relative to level of effort. This is consistent with the laws of supply and demand that characterize the capitalistic economy and is considered by many to be one of the strengths of our democracy. Its effect is not a good one for hard workers who are easy to come by. Its effect is a very good one for rarities in the job market or for entrepeneurs with a specialty niche.
Further inhibiting their lucrativeness, these twenty occupations have evolved in the female job culture. Historically, these jobs have often provided secondary or supplementary income for families. Such jobs have not traditionally paid as much as those which have always been held by the main breadwinner for a family.
Another reason women make less money than men is that women do not rise to top executive levels proportionate to their numbers in the workplace.
There is much talk of the “glass ceiling”, that is, a barrier that’s hard to see or define, but that is nevertheless there, and keeps women from rising to the highest levels of business.
There is no doubt women start falling off the corporate ladder as they approach the highest rungs. While it is true that the CEO club is traditionally a boys club, (in varying degrees depending upon the business), its members comfortable in their exclusive world of men’s talk, fine cigars, business golf, and Laker’s tickets, it is not really a closed club. It simply has not contained many women in the past, and so has developed a leathery male ambience. Studies show that only a small number of women embrace and demonstrate the degree of ambition necessary to advance to the very highest levels of responsibility in top tier companies. There is, therefore, a catch-22. The existence of fewer female than male candidates creates a more universally male atmosphere for conducting business and making decisions. This atmosphere is less welcoming and comfortable for a woman than a man, and it is therefore difficult for both men and women to visualize females in the topmost roles. The context is similar to that in politics. Nevertheless, women can and do rise to the top, when they decide to pursue their careers as dogmatically as their male counterparts. Often they simply do not decide to do so.
Not only are there only seven female CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies, but of the twenty-four top executives working for those women, only three are women! Twenty-one are men who put in the time and quality effort it took to be selected for their positions by their woman CEO.
The Department of Labor list illustrates the numbers of women in non-traditional wage-paying and-salaried employment, but doesn’t really address women-owned businesses or commission-based jobs.
What about female business owners, compared to male entrepeneurs?
The good news is that privately held, majority-owned (not just a partner to the hubby) women-owned businesses account for about 28% of businesses in the country. Even better news is that the fastest growth rates for women-owned businesses are in non-traditional industries, like construction, and agricultural services.
The not-so-good news is that more than half of women-owned firms are still in the service sector (home cleaning, day care, home health care, etc), and many are in retail. Only 9% of women-owned businesses are in finance, insurance, or real estate. Also, as of 1998, while 58% of men business owners had $50,000 or more in credit available to them, a measure of success, only 34% of women did. In 2000, $89.8 billion in venture capital investments went to firms generally. How much of that went to firms with women CEOs? Only five percent! Generally, women-owned businesses are smaller and less sophisticated than businesses in general.
In a hard look at the state of women’s work, women must face the fact that women have, for many reasons, declined jobs in many lucrative fields. They have chosen to do work that doesn’t pay as well. They have also chosen not to compete as aggressively as men for a place on the executive (leadership) track.
V. WHAT KEEPS WOMEN FROM MEN'S WORK?
Here are the some of the questions often posed about women relative to Men’s Work, and some of the answers that research has made available. Each woman can better understand herself if she first recognizes traits she shares with womankind in general. Then she can move on to identifying the characteristics that distinguish her as an individual.
IS MEN’S WORK TOO PHYSICALLY DEMANDING?
Women are concerned about the physical demands of men’s work. The truth is, relatively few non-traditional jobs necessitate exceptional strength. While a few jobs require considerable upper body strength, keep in mind that many women are much stronger than many men. Also, a lot of jobs thought to be brawn-intensive have been shown to take no more strength than housework requires. The coordination and nimbleness a woman might contribute to a job trimming trees or plumbing would often offset a strength disparity.
HOW DIFFERENT ARE MEN AND WOMEN?
Evidence indicates that women, generally speaking, come to the job market with traits, desires and tastes different than men’s.
When, as sophomores, the high school class of 2005 took the PSAT (practice SAT college entrance exam), they were asked what their college majors of interest were. The most frequently indicated interest for males was engineering (16.1%). For females it was health sciences and services (22.6%). (*)
There is reason to believe that the nurturing tendencies of women, whether innate, or caused by upbringing, influence their career choices, and therefore, their earning potential. In 2004, at Notre Dame University, 57% of Arts and Letters students were female. According to Christina Wolbrecht, a political science professor, “Major choice influences future employment, future earnings, and is where the wage discrepancy starts.” (*)
A very significant 64% of anthropology majors are women at that university. Anthropology Department Chair Jim McKenna believes that anthropology is a very nurturing field, and he said “We do identify, in a stereotypical role, this persona of nurturing, caring, listening, observing and protecting with female qualities.” (*)
Do many women prefer a facilitating or helping role at work? Do many feel less comfortable in a leadership role? It seems so.
Girls care. They like to help. Females are more interested than males in community service beginning in elementary school.
Boys want to lead the charge. One study of undergraduate students at the University of Maryland revealed that men were more likely to consider themselves as leaders than were females, and they also viewed themselves as acting more strongly on things they believed in than did the women (especially if they get to delegate!).
We do not know exactly why women are making the choices they are making, why men more aggressively seek leadership roles, etc. I will leave it to Sociologists, Biologists and Psychologists can sort through the facts and figure out why women’s and men’s traits and aptitudes are as they are, collectively and individually. While we might speculate, it’s too soon to even appear to be drawing conclusions, as Harvard President Lawrence Summers learned the hard way when he suggested that biological differences account for women’s relative lack of career success in the sciences. We cannot distinguish with certainty the influence of our hard-wiring from the influence of our social programming. Without generalizing about the relative power of these influences on each person, it is well worth our while to look at the facts, look at our collective tendencies and consider how they’ve affected our individual decisions. It is also worth studying those women who have chosen to move beyond traditional roles.
This book was written to let girls know that, for one reason or another, they have been shying away from a lot of great jobs and flocking to a relative few. Each woman can ponder her own influences, and address the wonderful possibility that a wealth of opportunities exist that she has not yet considered. This book urges women to, no matter what, take a look at all that’s out there. This book exists to help remedy one reason why women don’t consider a huge number of jobs--that they simply don’t know enough about them to have thought about them before.
DO WOMEN NOT CARE AS MUCH ABOUT THE MONEY?
Women care about other aspects of jobs besides money and promotion. In a 2002 study by Teresa Heckert, in which 102 college seniors and 504 alumni from a mid-western university were interviewed, women rated the pay and promotion facets of a job significantly lower in importance than did the men. They rated the remaining facets listed (travel, interpersonal relations, non-tangible benefits, family considerations, benefits, and societal contribution) significantly higher than did the men. (*)
What do women want at work? Here are some of the considerations that distract women from the jobs where they might make as much money as possible.
It seems women care quite a bit about pleasant working conditions.
Physical features of certain jobs come into play. A simple example: generally, women don’t want to get dirty. They also don’t like danger. Some jobs, especially those requiring much upper body strength, do not appeal to many women. These aspects, however, aren’t what keep women from doing most of the non-traditional jobs.
Women care about having more time off, whereas men are more willing to work extra hours for extra pay. Women judge satisfying relationships at work to be more important than men do. They like supervision and friendly coworkers. Men like autonomy. They are more willing to be relatively isolated on the job. Women care more than men do about flexibility of the work schedule to allow accomodations for family life. Women also care more about travel opportunities and benefits. Men care significantly more than women about salary and advancement opportunities. (Heckert, 2002) Men are also more likely than women to take commission-based jobs, which can be stressful and difficult, but lucrative.
These facts are affecting women’s willingness to get into, or stay in, careers whose best qualities are pay and promotion possibilities.
A woman’s chance for a raise or promotion is also affected, if, relative to her male colleague, she wants less overtime, frequently asks for schedule adjustments, or, as is statistically borne out, goes part-time, or takes leaves-of-absence.
There are, of course, reasons, besides fastidiousness and a wanting to enjoy going to work, that make women feel as though they must emphasize qualities besides high pay when choosing their careers. These circumstances will be discussed later.
Many women are, understandably, defensive of their priorities. After all, shouldn’t the other facets of a career, besides just money and the chance of climbing the ladder, be important to everyone? Of course they should. It’s fine to make a conscious choice, if you can afford it, of maximum flexibility, a job with the kind of gratification money can’t buy, or a just-plain-fun job! Just be aware that, as it stands now, men are generally more willing than women to prioritize money and advancement over all other conditions, so they are getting and hanging on to the jobs with more money and advancement. Just make sure your job is giving you what you need, after looking at every component.
Over time, two occurrences will help reduce the gap between men and women in the workplace, in both compensation and conditions.
First, as our society evolves, the workplace will continue to sensitize to the rest of life’s considerations, like family and health. They will incorporate a broader range of qualities (non-tangible benefits), which both men and women alike will appreciate and increasingly demand.
Second, women will more and more often choose jobs traditionally done by men, risking less flexibility or more adjustment, in order to maximize their earning and advancement potential.
These two movements will support each other. As women decide they are willing to sacrifice some other job qualities, to do men’s work to get men’s pay, companies doing business in those arenas will be positively influenced by women’s more nurturing style. The resulting environment will be better for everyone, increasing job satisfaction and business success.
As traditionally male-operated companies’ policies and style evolve, women will be more drawn to these fields. These women will then serve as role models for girls who will then consider more options when contemplating their own futures. It’s already happening, as some occupations (lawyer, veterinarian, physician) have already left the list of NTOs for women in the past few years. In short, over time, we’ll all come together.
WHAT ABOUT THE LACK OF EXPOSURE TO JOB POSSIBLITIES? SOCIAL PRESSURE?
Outside influences surreptitiously, sometimes unintentionally, narrow a girl’s perspective during critical years.
One educational authority on gender equity believes that a young woman who might have been interested in a non-traditional job, but is steered by a counselor to a traditional role, loses the potential to earn up to 150% more in her lifetime.
The media is an overwhelming influence. I just watched an inspiring TV commercial for NASDAQ, a stocks-selection service. It featured dramatic music and four ‘visionary’ CEOs meant to inspire investors. None of them were female.
Career colleges, trade schools like those advertising heavily on daytime television, customarily show computer technologists as male, massage therapists and medical and dental assistants as female. This is the perfect example of the vicious cycle. Women are shown images of other women in certain fields, and are more likely to think about entering them. Consequently, trade schools (technical institutes, career colleges) continue, like any business, to solicit to their proven target audience. I was flabbergasted by one recent cosmetology school television spot which declared, “Create your own future! Create your own look!” This insulting campaign trivializes the importance of women’s career goals. Another very often-aired commercial has a happy young woman declaring “Making people feel good...you can’t get a better job that! That’s why I trained to be a massage therapist!” If this were true, we’d all be able to do volunteer work for a living.
Family influence contributes greatly to a girl’s basic outlook, achievement orientation and self-confidence. Parents of daughters need to be careful that they don’t take it lightly when their daughters don’t grasp math and science concepts. There should be a presumption that these skills will be equally important in the career goals of boys and girls. Parental encouragement is a major predictor of a woman’s persistence in science.(Scientific American, 1998.
I must also address the sometimes-judgmental context of female society. If you’ve read “I Don’t Know How She Does It”, by Allison Pearson, which depicts the dilemmas of working moms, then you probably either laughed or cried at the chapter where she roughs up a store-bought cake to make it look homemade in order save face with the critical super-moms. Most women, certainly the single moms I know, wrestle mightily with their own internal demands--to be a good parent, a homemaker, a contributor to society, and, often, a breadwinner. They do not need additional scrutiny and subtle condemnation of their choices by other women. Each woman deserves to find her own delicate balance, for the benefit of herself and her family, and we cannot know her needs and personal challenges.
How pervasive is the ‘job ushering’ in our society? It is very influential---and occurs right from the beginning of life. Most of us with career-aged daughters were raised on the Dick and Jane readers. These books, a marker of our times, depict a total of 24 careers for females (e.g. dressmaker, governess, housekeeper, teacher, ice-skater, school nurse, etc.) and more that 146 careers for male characters. (from airplane builder to zookeeper!) There’s a bit of Disney fantasy in most of us, and we still collectively see our daughters, to some extent, as precious princesses to be cared for. Fathers and mothers alike enjoy this pretty picture for their girls, even though so many women wind up needing to earn a living for themselves and their children, and so many men resent or shirk support payments.
We honor our daughters as the strong women they will someday be, when we let them know, every chance we get, as teachers, counselors and parents, that the world is full of possibilities. We must teach them that no avenue is closed. There are no arbitrary limits.
I believe that it not enough to say to girls, as many of us do, “you can have any job you want”. We need to show them their choices.
DO WOMEN LACK CONFIDENCE?
“Pretend to what is not, and that the passion’s over, so you’ll become, in truth, what you are studying to be”---Ovid the Roman
To put it another way, as Amway founder Phil Kerns did--
“Fake it ‘til you make it.”
Women do not always muster the bluster. Men are masters of this skill. Women are often not confident enough to front the bravado required to take on a challenging job or tout their talents. Men are more likely to forge ahead, convinced that they will ‘catch up’ on needed skills in the nick of time, and still get the job done right. Women are more likely to feel not quite qualified.
This statement is bound to rankle some, and you individually may unstoppable, but its not a surprising finding, considered women’s more self-effacing nature, need for emotional support, and lack of societal support.
Studies show that young women entering college generally have less confidence in their ability to complete the coursework successfully, even though they actually prove to be just as successful in school. As we’ve discussed, they also consider themselves to be ‘leader-types’ less often than men do. Even graduate students studied at Stanford, where everyone’s pretty smart, have been shown to be less confident, both in and outside the classroom. (SIGSE Bulletin)
Both sexes must face the occasional failure, but women handle it differently than men. Female students who fail a technical course often conclude that they are not smart enough to understand the material, whereas men are inclined to attribute such failure to factors outside themselves, like poor teaching. (Ware et al)
Women’s insecurities can also make them less able than men to take criticism. Confident people do not allow criticism to affect their sense of general well-being. (SIGSE Bulletin)
Studies of Stanford graduate students also show that self-doubt makes women less likely than men to speak up in class. At a job, where the squeaky wheel might get the grease, confident self-promotion and obvious displays of initiative can increase success. Sometimes, speaking up matters.
ARE WOMEN CONTROLLED BY THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES?
A woman’s circumstances outside the workplace are more likely to affect her attitude and performance on the job.
When a woman, married or otherwise partnered, decides to embark on a career, not as the primary breadwinner, but to supplement the family income, she may be less inclined than a man to go the extra mile, work the extra hours, on the job. Without the ‘hunger’ experienced by a man who is his family’s main support, she has the luxury of working as much as she likes, at a job that she enjoys, and which suits the rest of her life.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are women who are the sole or primary support of their children and themselves. Women are far more likely than men to be single parents with majority or sole custody of children. The ability of these women to take jobs where lot of extra hours, frequent travel and unexpected dinner meetings are required to climb the corporate ladder, is limited. It really is true that, by and large, behind the successful man is a good woman, or at least SOME woman, keeping the home fires burning and tucking the kids in. Most fathers have that. What’s behind the successful mother? Sometimes only a halfway decent day care center that closes at 6 PM sharp. Sometimes not even that.
IS IT STILL A MAN’S WORLD?
Should we lay any of the blame for the wage chasm on pure chauvinism? Is a sexist society keeping women ‘in their place’? Is any of the disparity just plain unfair?
In short, it’s still not fair, but its much more fair than it used to be. These days, out-and-out discrimination probably only accounts for about 10 percentage points of the pay gap. (Businessweek Online, 2004) There are still instances of women earning less money for doing the very same job, doing it just as well as a man, and for the same number of hours. These infractions are being addressed more and more consistently, with lawsuits aimed at various entities, from Wal-Mart to the court system itself. Furthermore, instances of this type of gap are less and less common as we look at fields requiring higher education. In fact, in professional fields where women are rarities and companies want more female representation, they are often offered higher salaries than men.
THE UNFAIRNESS WOMEN HELP CREATE
Of course, unfair circumstances in the rest of a woman’s life can also affect the energy she puts into her career. Women in two-parent working households are still doing the lion’s share of domestic duties, still often expected to take the overriding responsibility for everything from meals to science projects.
The way men and woman function together is like a complicated dance which we have all performed together for centuries.
The domestic steps of the dance have traditionally been choreographed by women. Women complain about the unfair distribution of labor in the home, but often, it’s their own high standard, not held by others in the home, that creates the work load. A woman’s self-image may hinge on the appearance of the domestic show presented to the world, and, after so long, women have this routine down.
In the work world, however, men have been the dance leaders and they aren’t easily going to surrender that position without learning some fancy new footwork.
The dance is changing, though, and the new routine will be a better one for men and women. We must realize meanwhile, that women will grapple with practical issues and their self-esteem as mothers, partners, and workers. Men traditionally have a lot of their ego-eggs in the one breadwinner basket, and are also experiencing some confusion as to what is expected of them as society “de-machofies”.
In their careers, women and men work differently in some ways. Confident women executives, who do become leaders, have been shown to have different management styles than men, and they are very effective.
Female leaders tend to be good at team-building. They are facilitators. They are better than men both at getting people to coordinate their efforts, and in empowering and motivating individuals. Men are more inclined to lead by reward and punishment. Because women have a tendency to focus on relationships, they communicate more frequently on the job, sharing more information, proven to affect business positively.
Over time, as corporations recognize fully the contribution women are capable of making at every level, the style of business will change. The corporate setting will adjust, be more hospitable to its female participants, and a happier place for everyone.
The wonderful news is that there are so many determinants of career success over which a woman has plenty of control. Right now--- today---with patience, awareness of options, careful choices and planning, each woman can do more than ever to have a satisfying work life that truly works with the all rest of her life.
IS MEN’S WORK TOO PHYSICALLY DEMANDING?
Women are concerned about the physical demands of men’s work. The truth is, relatively few non-traditional jobs necessitate exceptional strength. While a few jobs require considerable upper body strength, keep in mind that many women are much stronger than many men. Also, a lot of jobs thought to be brawn-intensive have been shown to take no more strength than housework requires. The coordination and nimbleness a woman might contribute to a job trimming trees or plumbing would often offset a strength disparity.
HOW DIFFERENT ARE MEN AND WOMEN?
Evidence indicates that women, generally speaking, come to the job market with traits, desires and tastes different than men’s.
When, as sophomores, the high school class of 2005 took the PSAT (practice SAT college entrance exam), they were asked what their college majors of interest were. The most frequently indicated interest for males was engineering (16.1%). For females it was health sciences and services (22.6%). (*)
There is reason to believe that the nurturing tendencies of women, whether innate, or caused by upbringing, influence their career choices, and therefore, their earning potential. In 2004, at Notre Dame University, 57% of Arts and Letters students were female. According to Christina Wolbrecht, a political science professor, “Major choice influences future employment, future earnings, and is where the wage discrepancy starts.” (*)
A very significant 64% of anthropology majors are women at that university. Anthropology Department Chair Jim McKenna believes that anthropology is a very nurturing field, and he said “We do identify, in a stereotypical role, this persona of nurturing, caring, listening, observing and protecting with female qualities.” (*)
Do many women prefer a facilitating or helping role at work? Do many feel less comfortable in a leadership role? It seems so.
Girls care. They like to help. Females are more interested than males in community service beginning in elementary school.
Boys want to lead the charge. One study of undergraduate students at the University of Maryland revealed that men were more likely to consider themselves as leaders than were females, and they also viewed themselves as acting more strongly on things they believed in than did the women (especially if they get to delegate!).
We do not know exactly why women are making the choices they are making, why men more aggressively seek leadership roles, etc. I will leave it to Sociologists, Biologists and Psychologists can sort through the facts and figure out why women’s and men’s traits and aptitudes are as they are, collectively and individually. While we might speculate, it’s too soon to even appear to be drawing conclusions, as Harvard President Lawrence Summers learned the hard way when he suggested that biological differences account for women’s relative lack of career success in the sciences. We cannot distinguish with certainty the influence of our hard-wiring from the influence of our social programming. Without generalizing about the relative power of these influences on each person, it is well worth our while to look at the facts, look at our collective tendencies and consider how they’ve affected our individual decisions. It is also worth studying those women who have chosen to move beyond traditional roles.
This book was written to let girls know that, for one reason or another, they have been shying away from a lot of great jobs and flocking to a relative few. Each woman can ponder her own influences, and address the wonderful possibility that a wealth of opportunities exist that she has not yet considered. This book urges women to, no matter what, take a look at all that’s out there. This book exists to help remedy one reason why women don’t consider a huge number of jobs--that they simply don’t know enough about them to have thought about them before.
DO WOMEN NOT CARE AS MUCH ABOUT THE MONEY?
Women care about other aspects of jobs besides money and promotion. In a 2002 study by Teresa Heckert, in which 102 college seniors and 504 alumni from a mid-western university were interviewed, women rated the pay and promotion facets of a job significantly lower in importance than did the men. They rated the remaining facets listed (travel, interpersonal relations, non-tangible benefits, family considerations, benefits, and societal contribution) significantly higher than did the men. (*)
What do women want at work? Here are some of the considerations that distract women from the jobs where they might make as much money as possible.
It seems women care quite a bit about pleasant working conditions.
Physical features of certain jobs come into play. A simple example: generally, women don’t want to get dirty. They also don’t like danger. Some jobs, especially those requiring much upper body strength, do not appeal to many women. These aspects, however, aren’t what keep women from doing most of the non-traditional jobs.
Women care about having more time off, whereas men are more willing to work extra hours for extra pay. Women judge satisfying relationships at work to be more important than men do. They like supervision and friendly coworkers. Men like autonomy. They are more willing to be relatively isolated on the job. Women care more than men do about flexibility of the work schedule to allow accomodations for family life. Women also care more about travel opportunities and benefits. Men care significantly more than women about salary and advancement opportunities. (Heckert, 2002) Men are also more likely than women to take commission-based jobs, which can be stressful and difficult, but lucrative.
These facts are affecting women’s willingness to get into, or stay in, careers whose best qualities are pay and promotion possibilities.
A woman’s chance for a raise or promotion is also affected, if, relative to her male colleague, she wants less overtime, frequently asks for schedule adjustments, or, as is statistically borne out, goes part-time, or takes leaves-of-absence.
There are, of course, reasons, besides fastidiousness and a wanting to enjoy going to work, that make women feel as though they must emphasize qualities besides high pay when choosing their careers. These circumstances will be discussed later.
Many women are, understandably, defensive of their priorities. After all, shouldn’t the other facets of a career, besides just money and the chance of climbing the ladder, be important to everyone? Of course they should. It’s fine to make a conscious choice, if you can afford it, of maximum flexibility, a job with the kind of gratification money can’t buy, or a just-plain-fun job! Just be aware that, as it stands now, men are generally more willing than women to prioritize money and advancement over all other conditions, so they are getting and hanging on to the jobs with more money and advancement. Just make sure your job is giving you what you need, after looking at every component.
Over time, two occurrences will help reduce the gap between men and women in the workplace, in both compensation and conditions.
First, as our society evolves, the workplace will continue to sensitize to the rest of life’s considerations, like family and health. They will incorporate a broader range of qualities (non-tangible benefits), which both men and women alike will appreciate and increasingly demand.
Second, women will more and more often choose jobs traditionally done by men, risking less flexibility or more adjustment, in order to maximize their earning and advancement potential.
These two movements will support each other. As women decide they are willing to sacrifice some other job qualities, to do men’s work to get men’s pay, companies doing business in those arenas will be positively influenced by women’s more nurturing style. The resulting environment will be better for everyone, increasing job satisfaction and business success.
As traditionally male-operated companies’ policies and style evolve, women will be more drawn to these fields. These women will then serve as role models for girls who will then consider more options when contemplating their own futures. It’s already happening, as some occupations (lawyer, veterinarian, physician) have already left the list of NTOs for women in the past few years. In short, over time, we’ll all come together.
WHAT ABOUT THE LACK OF EXPOSURE TO JOB POSSIBLITIES? SOCIAL PRESSURE?
Outside influences surreptitiously, sometimes unintentionally, narrow a girl’s perspective during critical years.
One educational authority on gender equity believes that a young woman who might have been interested in a non-traditional job, but is steered by a counselor to a traditional role, loses the potential to earn up to 150% more in her lifetime.
The media is an overwhelming influence. I just watched an inspiring TV commercial for NASDAQ, a stocks-selection service. It featured dramatic music and four ‘visionary’ CEOs meant to inspire investors. None of them were female.
Career colleges, trade schools like those advertising heavily on daytime television, customarily show computer technologists as male, massage therapists and medical and dental assistants as female. This is the perfect example of the vicious cycle. Women are shown images of other women in certain fields, and are more likely to think about entering them. Consequently, trade schools (technical institutes, career colleges) continue, like any business, to solicit to their proven target audience. I was flabbergasted by one recent cosmetology school television spot which declared, “Create your own future! Create your own look!” This insulting campaign trivializes the importance of women’s career goals. Another very often-aired commercial has a happy young woman declaring “Making people feel good...you can’t get a better job that! That’s why I trained to be a massage therapist!” If this were true, we’d all be able to do volunteer work for a living.
Family influence contributes greatly to a girl’s basic outlook, achievement orientation and self-confidence. Parents of daughters need to be careful that they don’t take it lightly when their daughters don’t grasp math and science concepts. There should be a presumption that these skills will be equally important in the career goals of boys and girls. Parental encouragement is a major predictor of a woman’s persistence in science.(Scientific American, 1998.
I must also address the sometimes-judgmental context of female society. If you’ve read “I Don’t Know How She Does It”, by Allison Pearson, which depicts the dilemmas of working moms, then you probably either laughed or cried at the chapter where she roughs up a store-bought cake to make it look homemade in order save face with the critical super-moms. Most women, certainly the single moms I know, wrestle mightily with their own internal demands--to be a good parent, a homemaker, a contributor to society, and, often, a breadwinner. They do not need additional scrutiny and subtle condemnation of their choices by other women. Each woman deserves to find her own delicate balance, for the benefit of herself and her family, and we cannot know her needs and personal challenges.
How pervasive is the ‘job ushering’ in our society? It is very influential---and occurs right from the beginning of life. Most of us with career-aged daughters were raised on the Dick and Jane readers. These books, a marker of our times, depict a total of 24 careers for females (e.g. dressmaker, governess, housekeeper, teacher, ice-skater, school nurse, etc.) and more that 146 careers for male characters. (from airplane builder to zookeeper!) There’s a bit of Disney fantasy in most of us, and we still collectively see our daughters, to some extent, as precious princesses to be cared for. Fathers and mothers alike enjoy this pretty picture for their girls, even though so many women wind up needing to earn a living for themselves and their children, and so many men resent or shirk support payments.
We honor our daughters as the strong women they will someday be, when we let them know, every chance we get, as teachers, counselors and parents, that the world is full of possibilities. We must teach them that no avenue is closed. There are no arbitrary limits.
I believe that it not enough to say to girls, as many of us do, “you can have any job you want”. We need to show them their choices.
DO WOMEN LACK CONFIDENCE?
“Pretend to what is not, and that the passion’s over, so you’ll become, in truth, what you are studying to be”---Ovid the Roman
To put it another way, as Amway founder Phil Kerns did--
“Fake it ‘til you make it.”
Women do not always muster the bluster. Men are masters of this skill. Women are often not confident enough to front the bravado required to take on a challenging job or tout their talents. Men are more likely to forge ahead, convinced that they will ‘catch up’ on needed skills in the nick of time, and still get the job done right. Women are more likely to feel not quite qualified.
This statement is bound to rankle some, and you individually may unstoppable, but its not a surprising finding, considered women’s more self-effacing nature, need for emotional support, and lack of societal support.
Studies show that young women entering college generally have less confidence in their ability to complete the coursework successfully, even though they actually prove to be just as successful in school. As we’ve discussed, they also consider themselves to be ‘leader-types’ less often than men do. Even graduate students studied at Stanford, where everyone’s pretty smart, have been shown to be less confident, both in and outside the classroom. (SIGSE Bulletin)
Both sexes must face the occasional failure, but women handle it differently than men. Female students who fail a technical course often conclude that they are not smart enough to understand the material, whereas men are inclined to attribute such failure to factors outside themselves, like poor teaching. (Ware et al)
Women’s insecurities can also make them less able than men to take criticism. Confident people do not allow criticism to affect their sense of general well-being. (SIGSE Bulletin)
Studies of Stanford graduate students also show that self-doubt makes women less likely than men to speak up in class. At a job, where the squeaky wheel might get the grease, confident self-promotion and obvious displays of initiative can increase success. Sometimes, speaking up matters.
ARE WOMEN CONTROLLED BY THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES?
A woman’s circumstances outside the workplace are more likely to affect her attitude and performance on the job.
When a woman, married or otherwise partnered, decides to embark on a career, not as the primary breadwinner, but to supplement the family income, she may be less inclined than a man to go the extra mile, work the extra hours, on the job. Without the ‘hunger’ experienced by a man who is his family’s main support, she has the luxury of working as much as she likes, at a job that she enjoys, and which suits the rest of her life.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are women who are the sole or primary support of their children and themselves. Women are far more likely than men to be single parents with majority or sole custody of children. The ability of these women to take jobs where lot of extra hours, frequent travel and unexpected dinner meetings are required to climb the corporate ladder, is limited. It really is true that, by and large, behind the successful man is a good woman, or at least SOME woman, keeping the home fires burning and tucking the kids in. Most fathers have that. What’s behind the successful mother? Sometimes only a halfway decent day care center that closes at 6 PM sharp. Sometimes not even that.
IS IT STILL A MAN’S WORLD?
Should we lay any of the blame for the wage chasm on pure chauvinism? Is a sexist society keeping women ‘in their place’? Is any of the disparity just plain unfair?
In short, it’s still not fair, but its much more fair than it used to be. These days, out-and-out discrimination probably only accounts for about 10 percentage points of the pay gap. (Businessweek Online, 2004) There are still instances of women earning less money for doing the very same job, doing it just as well as a man, and for the same number of hours. These infractions are being addressed more and more consistently, with lawsuits aimed at various entities, from Wal-Mart to the court system itself. Furthermore, instances of this type of gap are less and less common as we look at fields requiring higher education. In fact, in professional fields where women are rarities and companies want more female representation, they are often offered higher salaries than men.
THE UNFAIRNESS WOMEN HELP CREATE
Of course, unfair circumstances in the rest of a woman’s life can also affect the energy she puts into her career. Women in two-parent working households are still doing the lion’s share of domestic duties, still often expected to take the overriding responsibility for everything from meals to science projects.
The way men and woman function together is like a complicated dance which we have all performed together for centuries.
The domestic steps of the dance have traditionally been choreographed by women. Women complain about the unfair distribution of labor in the home, but often, it’s their own high standard, not held by others in the home, that creates the work load. A woman’s self-image may hinge on the appearance of the domestic show presented to the world, and, after so long, women have this routine down.
In the work world, however, men have been the dance leaders and they aren’t easily going to surrender that position without learning some fancy new footwork.
The dance is changing, though, and the new routine will be a better one for men and women. We must realize meanwhile, that women will grapple with practical issues and their self-esteem as mothers, partners, and workers. Men traditionally have a lot of their ego-eggs in the one breadwinner basket, and are also experiencing some confusion as to what is expected of them as society “de-machofies”.
In their careers, women and men work differently in some ways. Confident women executives, who do become leaders, have been shown to have different management styles than men, and they are very effective.
Female leaders tend to be good at team-building. They are facilitators. They are better than men both at getting people to coordinate their efforts, and in empowering and motivating individuals. Men are more inclined to lead by reward and punishment. Because women have a tendency to focus on relationships, they communicate more frequently on the job, sharing more information, proven to affect business positively.
Over time, as corporations recognize fully the contribution women are capable of making at every level, the style of business will change. The corporate setting will adjust, be more hospitable to its female participants, and a happier place for everyone.
The wonderful news is that there are so many determinants of career success over which a woman has plenty of control. Right now--- today---with patience, awareness of options, careful choices and planning, each woman can do more than ever to have a satisfying work life that truly works with the all rest of her life.
VI. WHY CONSIDER MEN'S WORK?
Because it is there!
A better question is: Why would woman not want to think about all her options, taking every factor into account?
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE MONEY
Consider the variety. The fun of having a lot of choices is in being able to custom-make your life, and suit yourself. If the ice-cream shop has only chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, you’ll make do and probably still enjoy the treat, but, once you know about jamocha almond fudge, it might be even more worth the cost and calories!
If we are not aware of all our options, ideally from a young age, we cannot begin to observe, visualize, and then prepare ourselves to take advantage of the whole range of choices. If, for the whole of our lives, we see only a narrow range of possibilities, we will adjust to them psychologically, and our lives will be narrower, smaller for it.
Women, with their particular instincts, are prone to thinking things like “I’m a mom (or hope to be), and I’m really interested in kids, so I’ll look at being a teacher” (child psychologist, day care worker), or, “I like helping people so I’ll be a nurse”.
Woman often gravitate to where they are most comfortable, to what they already do. Consider that every woman who is married with children spends her time nurturing, maintaining, facilitating, assisting and coordinating. If she selects employment that includes these same features, hers is not a life filled with as much contrast and scope as it might be if she were helping with homework and stir-frying dinner in the evening, engineering a dam or rebuilding an engine during the day. Why not consider something different? What if variety really is the spice of life?
There is another, more subtle benefit for us all in women taking non-traditional jobs. Women and men working together professionally is a positive thing. If men and women are dichotomized by their careers, our interactions with the opposite sex might be primarily romantic or domestic in nature. Working together gives women the opportunity to enjoy men as people and colleagues. So, in effect, we provide ourselves with a more interesting variety of co-workers. Further, as more women aspire to executive positions and other jobs traditionally filled by men within corporations, there will be less stereotyping of women in corporate roles of a support or assistance nature. While some might concern themselves that an increase in the numbers of men and women working together in more similar jobs would create more titillating and distracting work environments, I believe the opposite is true. As we grow more accustomed to viewing the opposite sex as capable, respectable coworkers, and as the support role of women diminishes, there will be less intrigue in the boardroom and the service bay. Besides, a gratifying and stimulating job might be as much activity and ego boost a girl needs before going home!
Consider the challenge. As soon as a woman decides to double, triple or quadruple the number of different jobs she’s willing to consider, she has the opportunity to be challenged in new ways. Once on the job, she may well approach a challenge in a new way, in a place where her perspective is a fresh one. Women who haven’t fully explored technical, mechanical or other aptitudes may find gratification in non-traditional jobs. Likewise, fascinating new territory awaits those inventive women who are problem solvers and natural leaders. For girls who prefer to work outdoors, or who like physical challenges, considering non-traditional occupations is a must.
Consider the benefits. Because Men’s Work has evolved in a context of the needs and expectations of breadwinners, there are often better health and retirement plans offered as part of the compensation package for these occupations. Financially-based benefits are more likely to be family-inclusive.
Consider the job security. Traditionally male-dominated occupations, with the support of labor unions and advanced human resources departments, often have a lot of employment protection and termination protocol built into their policies.
Consider the opportunities for advancement. Men’s Work is more likely to include the promotion feature. Many of the support roles women choose have less chance of putting them on the executive track. A woman should beware of the dead-end component, regardless of entry-level pay, if they want to end up in decision-making, leadership roles.
Consider the societal support. Governmental endorsement of diverse hiring has generally created an improved environment for women considering non-traditional jobs. A few women who have entered male-dominated professions have gone on to head companies that have benefited from public and private sector policies favoring the granting of jobs to a variety of contractors. Many large projects are municipal ones, with policies in place to support diversity in the hiring of private firms to do the work. As there are so few women-run engineering and computer science firms, for example, those that do exist are in great demand as sub-contractors by large male-run contracting firms seeking to meet a government agency’s guidelines. I know a woman who heads up her own engineering company, in great demand for complicated projects. She is not only a woman but also a minority woman. What she is not is an engineer! She’s just a very, very smart businesswoman.
Consider the alternative. The future does not look bright for “Woman’s Work”---that is, for the traditional occupations of women, if women continue to crowd these fields. Supply and demand will create a relative downward spiral in the value of these jobs, and the brunt of the consequence will be borne by the minority and poverty level women most inclined to view their choices as limited to service industries. Women as a population, especially in the blue-collar sector, need to branch into other fields so that they do not create an overabundance of workers in fields in which limited compensation is available.
NOW LETS TALK ABOUT THE MONEY
As I have discussed, Men’s Work pays better overall, for a number of reasons, most justifiable, some not. That’s way it is. This alone should be reason enough for many women, who really need or want to make as much money as possible in the time they have, to look hard at non-traditional employment.
WHY CAN’T WE WORK IT OUT SO WOMEN ARE PAID AS WELL AS MEN FOR THE KIND OF WORK THEY ALREADY DO?
If a woman works just as hard as a man, for just as many hours, in a job that requires just as much skill or risk, why shouldn’t the law require that she make just as much money?
In the 1990s the concept of ‘comparable worth’ was explored and began to become a focus, as affirmative action had been in the ‘80s, busing in the ‘70s. Some universities, hospitals and governmental agencies developed elaborate ratings systems that attempted to measure and assign value to features of each employed person, like years of schooling, skill, and responsibility. Proponents of the idea claimed that it was unfair that women should be victimized by low pay just because they’d been herded by our society into non-lucrative careers. They claimed that figuring out the comparable worth of each worker is necessary for society to meet its moral obligation to treat all people equally.
Determining the value of a person’s job, based on its features, would be a difficult and expensive prospect, fraught with much subjectivity and opportunity for ongoing controversy. The best and easiest way to determine the value of a job in a capitalistic system, is by the natural process of supply and demand. Even if some arbitrary ranking method could be developed, and wages for Women’s Work were thereby increased, the result could be detrimental for women. Companies would be forced to lay off workers and require more of existing workers in order to stay in business. Once again, the neediest segment of our society, uneducated female minority mothers, would risk the greatest loss.
Comparable worth laws have been voted on in Congress, but have never passed.
In Federal Court, comparable worth cases have generally been unsuccessful for the Plaintiffs. In one case in Colorado, nurses complained that they were paid less than tree trimmers and sign painters being paid by a hospital. The hospital prevailed. One Iowa university that actually did have a comparable worth grading system in force, was sued when they paid workers at their plant more than clerical workers of the same grade. They claimed they needed to because there were fewer plant workers than clerical workers available. The university won.
Accepting the efficiency of the marketplace and the principals of supply and demand, the best way for the value of Women’s Work to go up is to create its scarcity. This can only happen if women go into other careers, or quit working all together. The first solution is the most practical.
A better question is: Why would woman not want to think about all her options, taking every factor into account?
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE MONEY
Consider the variety. The fun of having a lot of choices is in being able to custom-make your life, and suit yourself. If the ice-cream shop has only chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, you’ll make do and probably still enjoy the treat, but, once you know about jamocha almond fudge, it might be even more worth the cost and calories!
If we are not aware of all our options, ideally from a young age, we cannot begin to observe, visualize, and then prepare ourselves to take advantage of the whole range of choices. If, for the whole of our lives, we see only a narrow range of possibilities, we will adjust to them psychologically, and our lives will be narrower, smaller for it.
Women, with their particular instincts, are prone to thinking things like “I’m a mom (or hope to be), and I’m really interested in kids, so I’ll look at being a teacher” (child psychologist, day care worker), or, “I like helping people so I’ll be a nurse”.
Woman often gravitate to where they are most comfortable, to what they already do. Consider that every woman who is married with children spends her time nurturing, maintaining, facilitating, assisting and coordinating. If she selects employment that includes these same features, hers is not a life filled with as much contrast and scope as it might be if she were helping with homework and stir-frying dinner in the evening, engineering a dam or rebuilding an engine during the day. Why not consider something different? What if variety really is the spice of life?
There is another, more subtle benefit for us all in women taking non-traditional jobs. Women and men working together professionally is a positive thing. If men and women are dichotomized by their careers, our interactions with the opposite sex might be primarily romantic or domestic in nature. Working together gives women the opportunity to enjoy men as people and colleagues. So, in effect, we provide ourselves with a more interesting variety of co-workers. Further, as more women aspire to executive positions and other jobs traditionally filled by men within corporations, there will be less stereotyping of women in corporate roles of a support or assistance nature. While some might concern themselves that an increase in the numbers of men and women working together in more similar jobs would create more titillating and distracting work environments, I believe the opposite is true. As we grow more accustomed to viewing the opposite sex as capable, respectable coworkers, and as the support role of women diminishes, there will be less intrigue in the boardroom and the service bay. Besides, a gratifying and stimulating job might be as much activity and ego boost a girl needs before going home!
Consider the challenge. As soon as a woman decides to double, triple or quadruple the number of different jobs she’s willing to consider, she has the opportunity to be challenged in new ways. Once on the job, she may well approach a challenge in a new way, in a place where her perspective is a fresh one. Women who haven’t fully explored technical, mechanical or other aptitudes may find gratification in non-traditional jobs. Likewise, fascinating new territory awaits those inventive women who are problem solvers and natural leaders. For girls who prefer to work outdoors, or who like physical challenges, considering non-traditional occupations is a must.
Consider the benefits. Because Men’s Work has evolved in a context of the needs and expectations of breadwinners, there are often better health and retirement plans offered as part of the compensation package for these occupations. Financially-based benefits are more likely to be family-inclusive.
Consider the job security. Traditionally male-dominated occupations, with the support of labor unions and advanced human resources departments, often have a lot of employment protection and termination protocol built into their policies.
Consider the opportunities for advancement. Men’s Work is more likely to include the promotion feature. Many of the support roles women choose have less chance of putting them on the executive track. A woman should beware of the dead-end component, regardless of entry-level pay, if they want to end up in decision-making, leadership roles.
Consider the societal support. Governmental endorsement of diverse hiring has generally created an improved environment for women considering non-traditional jobs. A few women who have entered male-dominated professions have gone on to head companies that have benefited from public and private sector policies favoring the granting of jobs to a variety of contractors. Many large projects are municipal ones, with policies in place to support diversity in the hiring of private firms to do the work. As there are so few women-run engineering and computer science firms, for example, those that do exist are in great demand as sub-contractors by large male-run contracting firms seeking to meet a government agency’s guidelines. I know a woman who heads up her own engineering company, in great demand for complicated projects. She is not only a woman but also a minority woman. What she is not is an engineer! She’s just a very, very smart businesswoman.
Consider the alternative. The future does not look bright for “Woman’s Work”---that is, for the traditional occupations of women, if women continue to crowd these fields. Supply and demand will create a relative downward spiral in the value of these jobs, and the brunt of the consequence will be borne by the minority and poverty level women most inclined to view their choices as limited to service industries. Women as a population, especially in the blue-collar sector, need to branch into other fields so that they do not create an overabundance of workers in fields in which limited compensation is available.
NOW LETS TALK ABOUT THE MONEY
As I have discussed, Men’s Work pays better overall, for a number of reasons, most justifiable, some not. That’s way it is. This alone should be reason enough for many women, who really need or want to make as much money as possible in the time they have, to look hard at non-traditional employment.
WHY CAN’T WE WORK IT OUT SO WOMEN ARE PAID AS WELL AS MEN FOR THE KIND OF WORK THEY ALREADY DO?
If a woman works just as hard as a man, for just as many hours, in a job that requires just as much skill or risk, why shouldn’t the law require that she make just as much money?
In the 1990s the concept of ‘comparable worth’ was explored and began to become a focus, as affirmative action had been in the ‘80s, busing in the ‘70s. Some universities, hospitals and governmental agencies developed elaborate ratings systems that attempted to measure and assign value to features of each employed person, like years of schooling, skill, and responsibility. Proponents of the idea claimed that it was unfair that women should be victimized by low pay just because they’d been herded by our society into non-lucrative careers. They claimed that figuring out the comparable worth of each worker is necessary for society to meet its moral obligation to treat all people equally.
Determining the value of a person’s job, based on its features, would be a difficult and expensive prospect, fraught with much subjectivity and opportunity for ongoing controversy. The best and easiest way to determine the value of a job in a capitalistic system, is by the natural process of supply and demand. Even if some arbitrary ranking method could be developed, and wages for Women’s Work were thereby increased, the result could be detrimental for women. Companies would be forced to lay off workers and require more of existing workers in order to stay in business. Once again, the neediest segment of our society, uneducated female minority mothers, would risk the greatest loss.
Comparable worth laws have been voted on in Congress, but have never passed.
In Federal Court, comparable worth cases have generally been unsuccessful for the Plaintiffs. In one case in Colorado, nurses complained that they were paid less than tree trimmers and sign painters being paid by a hospital. The hospital prevailed. One Iowa university that actually did have a comparable worth grading system in force, was sued when they paid workers at their plant more than clerical workers of the same grade. They claimed they needed to because there were fewer plant workers than clerical workers available. The university won.
Accepting the efficiency of the marketplace and the principals of supply and demand, the best way for the value of Women’s Work to go up is to create its scarcity. This can only happen if women go into other careers, or quit working all together. The first solution is the most practical.
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