The stubborn gendered nature of care work has had severe implications for women’s labour market outcomes, economic independence, and broader gender equality. Failure to address these evolving needs might further accentuate gender inequalities in the workforce and place an additional burden on the already strained care workers, especially in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic. Last month also marked the first celebration of the UN International Day for Care and Support, which highlights the importance of investing in care to achieve gender equality and social justice. There are no surprises either across sectors in terms of where women are the majority. Aside from dominating economic activities in social and health services, women are also over-represented in certain manufacturing industries, such as those related to apparel. In contrast, industries like mining, quarrying, and construction-centric activities continue to be male-dominated.
Women established in the minds of children new, non-nurturance-based goals for success that favor males. Female teachers were considered more desirable than male teachers because their pliability and willingness to work for low wages made them ideal for the new uniform system of universal schooling. Female teachers embodied and taught gender roles to generations of young teachers who would grow up to perpetuate the sexist social system.
Teaching was one way in which women could work outside their own households while still being examples of purity and nurturance. Women have edged out men in achieving bachelor’s degrees in the last few years (National Center for Education Statistics N.d.). Women comprise nearly half of the workforce in 2022. Even though women are on par and even surpassed men’s attainment of bachelor’s degrees, the types of degrees they earn and the jobs they pursue are typically not enough to support themselves or their families. Dual-earning families are often a necessity for struggling working-class families. Middle-class families with dual earners have usually achieved enough economic stability to ensure higher education is accessible to future generations, regardless of gender. This blog provides current global trends in women’s employment across occupations and sectors, pointing to persistent gender-based horizontal and vertical segregation.
They are called “white collar” workers due to the white business shirts they wear when heading to the office. By addressing these challenges, both employers and employees can work towards equity and fairness in the pink collar workforce. Women did not receive as much education as their male counterparts, and their illiteracy restricted their participation in teaching. In the late 1700s, the estimate jobs that have been feminized, such as teaching or secretarial work, are also referred to as of women’s literacy was at about 45% (Strober and Lanford, p. 216). Prior to women’s entry into the teaching profession, the public began to view women’s basic education as worthwhile, largely so that they could pass religion and moral values on to their children.
Education field
Figure 8.3 demonstrates how workers with lower levels of education consistently had higher unemployment rates throughout history. The data series cover a range of topics, including employment, informality, working time, and earnings. Country coverage and length of the time series vary depending on the availability of household survey microdata and whether the variables for occupation and/or economic activity are available and sufficiently detailed to derive estimates based on the chosen definition. Structured interviews and skills testing can mitigate hiring biases and ensure diverse candidates have equal opportunities to showcase their abilities, fostering a more inclusive workforce. Developing gender-neutral job descriptions is a significant stride towards fostering a more inclusive recruitment process.
What is a Pink Collar Job? Understanding the Term and Its Significance
Primary and secondary teachers have never been viewed with high esteem in America, though they are well esteemed in many other countries such as Japan. Teachers were generally young, and the often-transient nature of teaching also led to its low regard among the professions. The low status made teaching societally acceptable for women in the 1800s, and the presence of many women in the field maintained its low status. The issue of gender has greatly shaped the public’s perception of teaching–it has never been regarded as a profession of the same type as law and medicine (Rury, p. 10).
- Furthermore, women predominantly hold management roles in areas traditionally viewed as female centric.
- Education institutions can unknowingly steer gendered behavior and norms, leading to particular job choices.
- Despite the fact that these occupations are predominantly held by women, they tend to offer lower salaries compared to male-dominated professions.
- This period also witnessed considerable social change, with women beginning to enter the workforce in greater numbers and challenging traditional gender roles.
- For the first time women were not completely dependent on themselves, in 1933 the federal government expanded in its responsibility to female workers.
Announcing the Worker and Sector Profiles database
Today, the line separating male- and female-oriented jobs is blurred because gender barriers have progressively weakened in recent years. This could be due to societal expectations, cultural norms, and structural barriers contributing to the disproportionate representation of women in pink collar jobs. In rural areas where men had few career options, many more men were willing to teach for low salaries, and teaching feminized slowly. These also tended to be areas in which education was not very widespread and schooling took only a small portion of the year. Women and men were paid comparably, though men were sometimes given bonuses because they tended to be seen as superior disciplinarians. Pathways for career growth can be created by providing pink collar workers with support groups, mentorship programs, and opportunities for professional development.
By 1885, new methods of note-taking and the expanding scope of businesses led office-clerk positions to be in high demand.19 Having a secretary became a status symbol, and these new types of positions were relatively well paid. Women are more likely to be employed in medical fields which require less education and earn less pay such as physician assistants and dental hygienists compared to dentists and physicians. As we learned in chapter 7, achieving advanced degrees increases a person’s income over their lifetime.
The gender disparities and stereotypes continue to impact women working in these jobs even today. As teaching became standardized and universalized, teachers lost control over their classrooms and curricula. Many female teachers, who had low status, reported to an often-male school principal. “Several scholars have suggested that the prevalence of women in teaching has contributed to pressure to strengthen bureaucratic controls over teacher behavior and to “deskill” the profession” (Sedlak and Schlossman, p. 28). The negative view of women meant that professions with women were viewed as less deserving of esteem.