Women are making gains in the workplace but still face discrimination. While more women now earn college degrees than men, they are paid less and face barriers to promotions. However, women are increasingly entering high-paying fields like healthcare, education and management. As these trends continue, households may come to rely less on male breadwinners and more on female income, shifting traditional workplace dynamics.
2. Thesis
Women are starting to shoot ahead in the workplace.
They are slowly catching up with men in the battle
for positions. Can this cause a potential shift in the
main source of income in the house hold.
3. Women in the past…
In the past, it was not likely for women to have jobs.
Main job: to care for the family and home
Men were the main provider for the household.
4. Women in education…
Just as unlikely it was for women to have a job, it was
also not common for women to have a high
education if any education at all. Women have
started to surprise the world with the number of
women with degrees.
Since 1984, the majority of people in gradute
schools are women.
In 1996, women received 238,563 master‟s degrees.
Men only received 181,062.
5. Discrimination in the workplace
With the high numbers of women getting degrees you
would think that women would be taking the higher
paying jobs. This is untrue. Men are still taking the more
powerful and higher paying jobs.
For every dollar a man makes a women only makes 78
cents.
Women also have to deal with other discrimination in the
workplace
They are looked over for promotions because they can become
pregnant. Companies worry that if they hire a women and she
becomes pregnant she will either leave the company or ask for
maternity leave.
But this statement is not always true. 65% of women in senior
management positions have children and have kept their job while
taking care of their family.
6. Discrimination cont.
Women are also discriminated for being too pretty.
Example
An article stated that a women was fired because her male
coworkers thought she was “too pretty”, causing a distraction in
the office.
Another women in Florida, Amy-Erin Blakely, was fired because
her bust was too large. Her employees complained to their
manager saying that they were having a hard time concentrating
during meetings. Because of this she was told that she would
not be able to advance in the company anymore.
7. “The Glass Ceiling”
A way to describe women‟s treatment in the
workplace is “The Glass Ceiling.”
“ The Glass Ceiling” is meant to indicate a symbolic
barrier in the corporate hierarchy where women are rarely
allowed passing.
8. Races
Not only do women as a whole get discriminated for
their gender but also for race.
According to the Women‟s Bureau unemployment
rate:
Asian women 7.5%
White women 7.7%
Hispanic women 12.3%
Black women 13.8%
9. Women shooting ahead…
Even though women are treated unfairly, they are
starting to show a rise for the top.
USA Today journalist Dennis Cauchon stated that in
2009 women held 50% of the nation‟s 132 million
jobs.
Due to the recession men have lost 3 million jobs in
construction and manufacturing alone.
The jobs that were still running smoothly were those
in health care, education, and government, all of
which are mostly held by women
10. Women shooting ahead cont.
One reason why women are starting to grow in the
workforce is because while women are getting degrees,
men are sitting at home playing video games.
Men 18 to 34 spend more time playing video games than 12 to
17 year olds.
Many believe that the media is one of the reasons for the
large number of unemployment percentages.
A lot of movies today are about men that do not want to grow
up. They show men going to parties, drinking, smoking,
showing they have no responsibilities. This is playing a large
influence on the future working generations.
In 1950, the percentage of unemployed men was only
5%. In 2010, it was recorded at 20%.
11. Shifting in the workplace?
In the past women were just seen as caring for the
home. But women are now starting to achieve
greater job opportunities that were once only held by
men.
Of working married women, 48% provide half or more of the
household income.
60% of U.S. women that work outside of the home, earn one
trillion dollars each year in aggregate.
12. Top 10 occupations…
The top10 occupations with the highest median weekly
earnings among women are:
1. Physicians and surgeons, $1,618
2. Pharmacists, $1,605
3. Chief Executives, $1,598
4. Lawyers, $1,461
5. Computer Software Engineers, $1,445
6. Computer and Information Systems Managers, $1,415
7. Physical Therapists, $1,208
8. Speech-language Pathologists, $1,184
9. Computer Programmers, $1,177
10. Human Research Managers, $1,170
13. Women in jobs..
Women in Business:
Today women-owned businesses make up about 40% of
all businesses.
Women employ 27.5 million people and make more than
$3.6 trillion in sales.
Women also make 95% of the family financial decisions.
Women in the Medical Field
Over 90% of registered nurses and 53% of medical
scientists are women.
14. Women in Management…
In 1960, only about 15% of manager and
administrators were women. Today that number has
risen to 51%
Stated in a Washington Post article, “ Companies
that employ more women in upper level
management are more profitable that those that rely
heavily on male „talent‟ to run their business.”
“ There is a clear relationship between women in
senior management and corporate financial
success.”
15. An Example of women succeeding in
management.
A women by the name of Marilyn Carlson Nelson, had
a father that was the owner of his own business.
Nelson would beg her father to give her a job in his
business, but would never hire her. He instead
assigned her to what he called “female” jobs in the
company. Since he would not hire her, she decided
to take her business career into her own hands.
When Nelson was in her 60‟s, she was so far ahead
in the corporate world that she was able to buy her
father‟s company. While in charge of the company,
she was able to triple the growth and profits and turn
her father‟s tiny company into a global leader.
