According to a recent analysis by the Employment Policy Foundation, women are entering male-dominated fields in unprecedented numbers. The facts show that, regardless of motherhood status, hours worked per week, or other factors, young women entering the workforce today are not only choosing traditionally male occupations, but are also rewarded handsomely for their efforts.
The study examines the latest Bureau of Labor statistics on the top 10 fields in which women's participation rose the most over the last decade. It not only reveals that young women are not being shortchanged in the workplace, but that they are, on average, earning 101 percent of their male colleagues' salaries. These facts directly refute claims that women need the type of "fair pay" acts that endlessly circulate around Congress.
The top 10 fields in which women have increased their representation are largely fields that women have not traditionally chosen. These occupations are: veterinarians, in which female representation has risen from less than two percent a decade ago, to upwards of 43 percent of the field; high-ranking public administrators, in which female participants have risen to 37 percent; math and science teachers, in which there was a six-fold increase; chemistry teachers, a four-fold increase; industrial engineers, a rise to 22 percent; dentists, another four-fold increase; car salespeople, a three-fold increase; messengers, yet another three-fold increase; physicians’ assistants, which represent an increase from 20 to 58 percent; and members of the clergy, which have risen to 18 percent.
This gain in new fields is only part of the good news. Though older female workers still earn, on average, anywhere between 20 to 25 percent less than men in similar fields, this wage disparity is not only largely based on differences in work schedules, but it is also disappearing as time moves on and new workers enter the evolving workplace. The government tracks 497 occupations and, of these, women have increased their participation in 106 categories.
What is even more heartening is that this increase is no short-term gain, but instead a trend over the past decade. It represents a long-term, fundamental shift in the workplace. Should this trend continue at such a blistering pace, arguments about gender equity and pay will have less and less credibility.
As well they should. While the American workplace is and always will be a work-in-progress, there is little evidence that there is some hidden agenda governing the differences in women's and men's wages. Time spent at work is still the best measure of the level of compensation, and personal choices affect the amount of time a person works, as well as which fields are popular.
Today's women are showing that they understand this, as they pursue new career paths. Times have changed, and the workplace is changing as a result. Lawmakers should consider this before attempting to regulate further. Women can take care of themselves, and the workplace is clearly no exception.
