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2007 News Releases
For immediate release:
May 23, 2007
Media contact:
James Hoard
Phone: (214) 922-5307
e-mail: james.hoard@dal.frb.org
Women Making Gains
In U.S. Workforce,
According to Dallas Fed Economic Letter
DALLAS—By taking advantage
of the opportunities in the U.S. economy, women have
made stunning advances in the workplace in recent decades,
according to research published in the Federal Reserve
Bank of Dallas’ Economic Letter.
In “Women at Work: A Progress
Report,” Senior Vice President and Chief Economist
W. Michael Cox and senior economics writer Richard Alm
find that a greater number of women are graduating from
college, choosing higher-paying career fields, starting
their own businesses and becoming managers and CEOs.
Although U.S. working women still
lag men in terms of job parity, Cox and Alm point out
that women are making educational and career choices
that lead to more lucrative jobs.
Women’s share of bachelor’s
degrees rose from 24 percent in 1950 to 57.5 percent
in 2004. Additionally, women are filling the ranks of
higher-paying occupations in greater numbers: More accountants,
lawyers and dentists and fewer secretaries, cashiers
and receptionists.
“Women’s choices
have been a good fit for the U.S. job market,”
Cox and Alm write. “They’ve prepared themselves
for employment in the growing services sector, with
its emphasis on mental rather than physical skills.”
They note that more than 92 percent of jobs held by
women are in the service sector, compared with 75 percent
for men.
Women have also become more entrepreneurial,
owning a half interest or better in nearly 40 percent
of U.S. businesses. Further gains also are found in
the corporate world, where women’s share of management
jobs rose from 17.6 percent in 1972 to 37.2 in 2005.
Almost a fourth of U.S. chief executives are women.
Women are expected to continue
making further progress in the U.S. workforce, Cox and
Alm assert; however, gains are likely to come at a slower
pace.
The May 2007 issue of Economic
Letter can be found at www.dallasfed.org.
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