Changes for women in the workforce and the professional world
The image of women as housewives and the submissive figure has been changing since before the turn of the century. Throughout the decades more and more women have stepped away from the traditional roles often attributed to women and pursued opportunities beyond the home. The professional world that used to belong mostly to men has seen a rise in women joining the workforce. Tara Law from Time wrote in her article “Woman are now the majority of the U.S. workforce – but working women still face serious challenges,” that women now make up 50.4% of the workforce in the country, yet still have more obstacles in their career path than men.
Here is a graph from the article "For Women’s History Month, a look at gender gains – and gaps – in the U.S.," from the Pew Research Center showing the female workforce increase through the decades since the 1950s, as well as the decrease of the male workforce and a projection of future numbers.
The main areas which women have helped fuel more and more as the decades pass, says Law, are the areas of education, healthcare and retail.
The presence of women has also increased in the competitive world of decision-making company boardrooms. Jeanna Kashou from the Milwaukee Magazine condensed the statistics in her article “Wisconsin’s starting to achieve a critical mass of women in the boardroom.” When it comes to Wisconsin’s fifty largest traded companies, the number of female directors has grown by 73%, the number of female executives has grown 127%, the number of companies with at least one female director has grown 23%, the number of Power of 3 companies (those with at least three female directors) has grown 240% and six companies now have four or more female directors, an increase of 200%.
Kashou also wrote that in the last two years the number of board members that are female has increased from 20.8% to 23.3% and that “last year, 19.3% of those women directors were women of color, including 40% of newly elected women directors.” At the same time more women enter the professional world, the number of men in it decreases.
Despite these positive outlooks in the professional world for women, pay tends to be lower for them in the workforce. For every dollar a man makes, a woman makes an average of 82 cents; that is 18% less. This gap also tends to increase depending on race.
This graph from the article "Women are paid less than men - and that hits harder in an economic crisis," from "Lean In" shows the increase in the pay gap depending on race, with Asian women being paid the most and Latino women being payed the less.
In his article “The gender pay gap: why it’s still here,” Tom Spiggle, an employment lawyer and senior contributor from Forbes, expressed that even though the pay gap has been narrowing in the past few years, it is not expected to disappear until 2059. Spiggle expressed that some of the reasons for the persistence of the pay gap may be that there are still more obstacles on a women’s career path, such as having to take care of children, and the assumption by their male bosses that women are less competent, therefore offering a lower salary. Because women have more career disruptions, they have less time to build experience, these disruptions being more family or motherhood responsibility which “tend to fall more on women” than men. Lastly, there are often assumptions in the working world regarding women, such as women being less efficient, which causes women to receive less career advancing opportunities.
The Great Resignation has been a discussed topic lately in the workforce world. Millions of people have been quitting their jobs, more than double the number of people who have been laid off, wrote Aimee Picchi from CBS News in her article “Americans are quitting their jobs – and women are leading ‘the Great Resignation.’” One of the main reasons for this, Picchi wrote, is because of the extra responsibilities that working women have, such as childcare duties. The lack and expensiveness of daycare makes it necessary for them to prioritize their time on their family and other similar responsibilities.
Due to this Great Resignation, the economy is being affected, and won’t be able to recover completely “until women return to the labor force in equal rates to men,” Picchi stated. This is because the industries that are most hard-hit because of the pandemic are restaurants and retail, in which the majority of the workforce consist of women. Women are not only quitting in retail jobs, but also in the big business world. The pandemic has been another step-back for women in the professional and retail world, but at the same time, it shows that women are as important and essential to the economy and the workforce as men are.
The Women's Leadership Institute at Mount Mary University located in Milwaukee is one of the associations working to help women achieve their full potential and enter the mainly men-dominated professional world in bigger numbers. “At the Women's Leadership Institute, we have had the opportunity to work with many women who have broken the glass ceiling, across many fields," said Alexandra Hoslet, the Program Manager of the WLI. “I have found that the common denominators among these successful women are higher education, tenacity, and a strong belief in themselves.”
About the Great Resignation, Hoslet stated that it is "an opportunity for employees to reassess what they want in a position and an opportunity for employers to better understand the needs and wants of their employees.” She continued, “I'm hopeful that this realignment will be beneficial to both parties. I understand that many people are leaving their positions for greater flexibility, better benefits, and a better work/life balance. The crisis of access to childcare due to the pandemic is another big factor.”
The Women’s Leadership Institute at Mount Mary University does its big part on helping young women see their worth in the professional world: “The goal of the Women's Leadership Institute is to help women develop their full potential to be transformational leaders,” stated Hoslet. “The Institute educates, prepares, and inspires women and girls to recognize and embrace their own unique strengths and leadership abilities to positively impact their lives and the lives of those around them.”
The WLI also “offers programming for the university (Mount Mary) and the community (of Milwaukee) that opens minds and inspires conversation and action, including Voices of Leadership, the Summer Leadership Academy for high school girls, the Visiting Fellows Program, and the Leadership Education And Development (LEAD) Program for current Mount Mary University students. We hope that these initiatives will help women to realize careers with equitable pay and opportunities.” These are only a few ways in which young women can get support in Milwaukee.
“My advice to all young women,” finished Hoslet, “is to finish your education, work hard, believe in yourself, and know your value.”
About the Author
Kayla Vega
Kayla is an undergraduate History student at Mount Mary University and a writer for Milwaukee Women Today. She's passionate about art and history. In her free time, she enjoys reading and staying at home.
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