March 19, 2024

As Labor Market Tightens, Women Are Moving Into Male-Dominated Jobs

Nolee Anderson, 24, a carpenter in Nashville, said that while she’s usually the only woman on a construction site, she has noticed a lot more interest in the field from young women. And the workwear company Wolverine has sponsored her to draw attention to diverse trade workers at a time when firms say they’re having trouble finding enough of them.

She said that when she entered carpentry, she didn’t think her gender would stand out, but being female “has given me a leg up,” she said. “Employers are excited to hire diverse, qualified people.”

Yet even though women are increasingly getting traditionally male jobs, they are not necessarily the same jobs. Median earnings for women working full time in these jobs are 29 percent below men’s earnings, and this pay gap isn’t closing. Between 2016 and now, earnings rose 5.0 percent for men in these jobs, slightly ahead of 4.7 percent for women.

Further, this growth of women in male-dominated jobs might last only as long as the labor market stays tight. With unemployment at its lowest level in almost 50 years, employers are looking beyond their traditional work forces to groups they might not have hired in the past, including prisoners and refugees.

The real test comes when unemployment starts rising again and employers have more candidates to choose from. Then we’ll know whether the current rise of women in male-dominated jobs reflects a permanent shift in gender norms or a stopgap measure. One hint from recent history: Women’s share of male-dominated jobs climbed in 2000, the last time unemployment dipped below 4 percent, then fell as unemployment picked up.

Even if there is a permanent shift to hiring more women in male-dominated jobs, these jobs aren’t the future. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment in male-dominated occupational sectors will grow 4.1 percent between 2016 and 2026, half the rate of mixed- and female-dominated sectors (8.3 percent).

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/upshot/as-labor-market-tightens-women-are-moving-into-male-dominated-jobs.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Speak Your Mind