Transcript women in the economy - Villanova University

WOMEN IN THE ECONOMY
INTRODUCTION
CHERYL CARLETON ASHER
VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY
WOMEN IN THE ECONOMY
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There have been rapid and large
changes in the roles of men and women
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At work
In relation to each other
In the nature of families
WOMEN IN THE ECONOMY
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There has been much focus on the
rising labor force participation of
women
There has been a focus in the press on
the rise of women in nontraditional
occupations, and on women who are
“first” in their field.
Women in the Economy
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Example: Nancy Pelosi
Let’s look at some general trends in labor
force participation for all adults, and for
women: all women, married women,
mothers
DEFINE LFP:
NOTE: in 2005 the civilian noninstitutional
population of the US was 226 million.
Women in the Economy
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What has been the trend?
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See Figure 1 from Changes in Labor Force
Participation in the United States by Juhn
and Potter
Women in the Economy
Women in the Economy
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Why are trends in LFP so important?
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See Bernanke’s comments
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What are the trends for men and women?
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See Figure 2 and Table 2 in Changes in Labor
Force Participation in the United States by Juhn
and Potter
Women in the Economy
Women in the Economy
Women in the Economy
Women in the Economy
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What led to the change?
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Demand Side Factors
Supply Side Factors
Changing Social Norms
Legal Changes
Women in the Economy
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Implications for the future?
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Also see articles on changing benefits
offered by firms!
WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE
2004:
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With a labor force participation rate of 59.2 percent,
women represented 46 percent of the total United
States labor force.
Women are projected to comprise 47 percent of the
total labor force in 2012 as they did in 2003. They
will also account for 55 percent of the increase in
total labor force growth from 2002-2012.
WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE
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There were 64.7 million employed women in the U.S. in 2004.
Seventy-four percent worked full time, while the remaining 26
percent worked part time.
The largest percentage of employed women (38 percent)
worked in management, professional, and related occupations,
while 35 percent worked in sales and office occupations.
Smaller percentages worked in service occupations, 20 percent;
6 percent worked in production, transportation, and material
moving occupations; and 1 percent worked natural resources,
construction, and maintenance occupations.
Approximately 4 million women were self-employed in
nonagricultural industries. These self-employed women
represented nearly 6 percent of all employed women.
WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE
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The seven occupations with the highest median
weekly earnings among women who worked full-time
in 2004 were pharmacists, $1,432; chief executives,
$1,310; lawyers, $1,255; computer and information
systems managers, $1,288; computer software
engineers, $1,149; computer programmers, $1,006;
physicians and surgeons, $978; and human resource
managers, $958.
Souce: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
Women in the Economy
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Examine current occupational and
industry distribution
OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION
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While women’s labor force participation has
been increasing, it is also of interest to
examine WHICH jobs, or occupations women
are entering
Compared with the impressive change in
women’s LFP, the kinds of occupations in
which women have been employed has
changed relatively little
(see data) (Table 5.1)
Occupational Differences
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NOTE: These are MAJOR occupational
categories (more later!_
What are the three largest categories
for women?
What are the three largest categories
for men?
OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION
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The BROAD occupational categories,
especially professional and technical
workers, has been relatively gender
integrated over time.
KINDS of prof. and technical jobs held
by women and men are quite different
(see Table 5.4)
Occupational Distribution
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If we look WITHIN this occupational
category, what do we observe?
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Certain occupations are dominated by
women, and have been for decades
Which occupations have women made
substantial inroads into?
OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION
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These are aggregations of disparate
JOBS (more on this later)
Example: women in the occupational
category “Baker” tend to hold jobs in
store bakeries, male bakers are
concentrated in more lucrative
production baking jobs
Industry Distribution
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See Table 5.2
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The ranks of women are concentrated in a
few industries: consumer products,
financial services, retail, publishing, and
media
All these are businesses with a large
number of women customers
Women and College
See article by Goldin, Katz and
Kuziemko, The Homecoming of
American College Women, Figure 1
(figure on next slide).
. What is the level of education of your
Moms, Dads, and/or grandparents?
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Women and College
Women and College
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Ratio of men to women in college in
1960:
Ratio of men to women in college in
1980:
Ratio of WOMEN to MEN in college in
2003:
Women and College
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What is the connection between women’s
enrollment in college and women’s labor force
participation?
What factors do YOU think determine
whether an individual attends college and
graduates?
What do the authors believe is the source of
the “College Gender Gap Reversal?”
WOMEN IN THE ECONOMY
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While women have made progress in the
work place, they still continue to have MOST
of the responsibility for nonmarket work
There is still a great deal of occupational
differences between men and women
There still exists a “glass ceiling” for women
WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE
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Only 1.4% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women
Only 7.9% of Fortune 500 top earners are
women
The world’s biggest companies are still almost
exclusively run by men
In academia there is a big gap in the
representation of women in science and
engineering
Women and the Glass Ceiling
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See CNNMoney.Com article, “10 Best-
Paid Executives: They’re all men”
Also see, “CEO Barbie Criticized for
Promoting Unrealistic Career Images” in
The Onion.
WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE
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WHY?
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Harvard President Larry Summers
suggested it might be because:
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Women are not so interested as men in making
the sacrifices required by high-powered jobs
Men may have more “intrinsic aptitude” for
high-level science
Women may be victims of old-fashioned
discrimination
WOMEN IN THE LABOR FORCE
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GENETIC
SOCIALIZATION
DISCRIMINATION
WOMEN IN THE ECONOMY
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Is there/was there a “traditional” role
for men and women?
What influences the development of
these roles?
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Biology
Social norms
Economic necessity
discrimination
WOMEN IN THE ECONOMY
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Are there biological differences?
Do any biological differences mean that men
and women are each better suited to
different tasks?
What makes a good leader?
Is science an objective pursuit, or are our
methods of discovery even influenced or
“tainted” by social norms and culture?
WOMEN IN THE ECONOMY
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The Science Wars, by Sharon Begley,
Newsweek, April 21, 1997, pp. 54 – 56
Questions is science an objective pursuit
Critics say the questions it asks, the way it
interprets observations, even what counts as
data is subject to the political, cultural and
social influences of the time.
THE SCIENCE WARS
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Thus science itself can be considered a
“social construct” and its discoveries
and conclusions have no special claim
on truth.
So, society and culture affect WHAT
gets studied. Affects acceptable roles
for women. Affects what we question
(or don’t question).
THE SCIENCE WARS
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Examples of “fashionable ideas”
affecting what becomes accepted as
scientific truth
Examples of studies “proving” the
intellectual inferiority of women, blacks,
or immigrants
THE SCIENCE WARS
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Last paragraph: “The real trick for
scientists, and for those who base
public policy on their work, is to tell
when the research is still being skewed
by social and political values and when
those biases have been recognized and
neutralized by the scientific method.”
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BRAINS
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“Who says a Woman Can’t be
Einstein?”, by Amanda Ripley, TIME
magazine, March 7, 2005, pp. 51 – 60
Examines the issue of whether indeed
men’s and women’s brains are different,
and if so, what does it matter.
There are indeed real differences
between the male and female brain
BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES
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However, the brain is not static, the
brain constantly changes in response to
its environment.
Haier, one of the researchers, notes,
“Men and women have different brain
architectures, and we don’t know what
they mean”.
BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES
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One of the sociologists, whom Summers
cited, states that “I don’t exclude biology as
an explanation, but I know biological factors
would not play a role unless they interacted
with social conditions.”
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Thus, while there are biological differences
between men and women, they don’t explain
all the variations one observes
WOMEN’S ROLES IN SOCIETY
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The relative status of women has varied
over time and across societies.
What determines status?
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Property ownership
The structure of social relationships (do
men and women share in providing for the
family, or do men occupy the public
sphere, while women are confined to the
home?)
WOMEN’S ROLES IN SOCIETY
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U.S. experience:
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Preindustrial period
Industrialization
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Family shifted from a production unit to a consumption
unit
Men earned the living; women and children were
dependent on the husbands/fathers earnings
Thus the economic role of women changed within the
family as did the image of the ideal wife
WOMEN’S ROLE IN SOCIETY
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This provided the genesis for the “traditional”
family.
This abstracts from the fact that in many
poor, black and immigrant families women
worked.
Dedication to the role of mother and wife was
accepted as the only proper role for a
woman.
WOMEN’S ROLE IN SOCIETY
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In more recent years, women have
been entering into the labor force in
increasing numbers, and staying there
even after marriage and children
We will explore the reasons for these
changes thruout the course
But again, the role of women in society
is changing
WOMEN’S ROLE IN SOCIETY
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SOME CONCLUSIONS:
The role of women and men in society and
the social rules that prescribe appropriate
behavior are NOT shaped by biology alone
The more women participate in “productive”
work, the less likely they are to be seen as
dependents, defined solely in terms of their
role as wife and mother
WOMEN’S ROLE IN SOCIETY
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The roles of women and men tend to
hold long after they cease to be
functional.