Women In the Workplace: Then Vs. Now [Infographic]

Jenny Moore http://www.humanresourcesmba.net 4m 1,065 #womeninworkplace

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

The Struggle for Women’s Workplace Advancement

In today’s society, where women have come a long way, have fought a hard battle to get where they are today; they are now managers, supervisors, bosses, and CEOs of companies. As of 2013 and beyond, 19% of women in the workplace were C-level executives, 24% were Senior Vice Presidents, 27% were Vice Presidents, 35% were Directors, 40% were Managers, and 53% had at least level entry positions into their companies. The struggle has been a hard one, but the fight is still a long way from over. There are still complications to break barriers and glass ceilings they face in a world of competitive men and other women. There are still pay gaps and inequalities across the board of occupations where men are still getting paid more than women for doing the same exact job, but this gap is ever-decreasing. The value of women in the workplace is just as valuable as men.

When women feel like they must choose a family life to sacrifice their career in the process or vice versa, this is not just a feminist or women’s issue, but this is a male issue, a gender issue, and a worldwide issue. Women are just as brilliant as men and very capable of doing anything a man can do. There, of course, are plenty of women who choose to be stay-at-home mothers and they are happy to do so, but for other women, who wish to enter into the professional work setting, they may face deeper challenges, having to prove themselves and their worth beyond what a man would be required to do. Unfortunately, there are still common old practices occurring in the workplace, with women more likely to be passed over for a high profile assignment, especially if they have children. According to the research in the infographic, women are less likely to work more with the increasing number of children they have, while hours for men remained relatively stable.

Fortunately, the gender gap within the workplace is at one of its best time, with just as many, if not more women working now than men. For millennial women, they are likely to choose to begin their careers before they consider starting a family life. Millennial women are likely to have more education than their male counterparts, and seem to be much more concerned and more serious about the success of their careers than millennial men.

With this lead of millennial women in the workplace, they have the power to change the common misconceptions of the workplace, along with changing the dynamics of a work-life balance between family and career. Millennial women are the defining generation for how the workplace will change and how women will be seen when it comes to their careers and their family life. There may be a certain struggle in balancing a career and a family life, but it is very possible, and both millennial men and women will be the proof that it can be done, without severely affecting job responsibilities. These changes must be made in order for the establishment of the working world to finally accept that women can have both family and career.

The struggle is far from over for women, and it is certainly not going to be easy, and in fact, could be quite stressful, but women are extremely well-rounded and know how things can and should be done in the modern workplace. It is up to this generation and future generations of women to do the convincing that the old-fashioned method of thinking about women in the workplace along with their family life certainly needs to be thrown out, because women can and will have it their way when it comes to family and career.  For those men that doubt me, feel free to go ask your wife how she does it, if she was one of the women who chose to do both, like my own mother did.

Check out this infographic, which goes into more detail about women in the workplace.

Infographic submitted by Jenny Moore, article summary by Matthew Gates

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Women In the Workplace: Then Vs. Now

1980 vs. Today:
The workplace is largely unequal, but gender equality in the workplace is the best it’s ever been. With millennial women leading the charge, there’s no telling what another 30 years will bring!

Today:
19% of C-level execs[2]
24% of senior vice presidents
27% of vice presidents
35% of directors
40% of managers
53% of entry level positions

Are women.. but there are still barriers to women’s workplace advancement

Women make $.77 for every $1 a man makes.

Women are likelier to be passed over for high profile assignments:

Amongst business school grads:

Budget over $10 million for a project:

22% of women
30% of men

Men’s budgets 2x larger than women’s
With 3x the staffers
With 1/3 men saying their project garnered C-level attention [#CEO, CFO, CTO, etc.]
and 1/4 women saying the same.
So less women aspire to management

Percent who aspire to be management by age:

Millennial (18-32):

Women-61%
Men-70%
Gen X (33-48):
Women-38%
Men-58%
Boomer (49-67):
Women-21%
Men-32%

Perhaps because of parental roles:

Career interruptions:

[% doing the following because of a child/family member]

Reduced Work Hours:

Fathers-28%
Mothers-42%

Taken a significant amount of time off:

Fathers-24%
Mothers-39%

Quit a job:

Fathers-10%
Mothers-27%

Turned down a promotion:

Fathers-10%
Mothers-13%

As number of kids increases, men work more, and women less.

With unpaid work taking up the rest of their time.

But Millennial women are changing women’s role in the workplace.

(For 25-32 y.o.’s)

With More education than their male counterparts:

% with a 4 year college degree
women: 38%
men: 31%

Earning 93% of what men the same age make:

avg. wage
Men: $16.00/hr
Women: $14.96/hr

Millennial women are more concerned with career success than millennial men.

% reporting being successful in a high-paying career is very important:

Men-59%
Women-66%

% reporting career success is very important:

Men-56%
Women-66%

How far we’ve come

In 1980:

Only half of women participated in the workforce, compared to nearly 80% of men.
Women earned $.55 for every $1 a man earned.
6% less women than men had bachelor’s degrees

Men: 21%
Women: 15%

But that doesn’t mean more doesn’t need to be changed!

[% millennials saying changes are needed to enhance gender equality in the workplace]

Men & Women:
Country needs to keep making changes: 67%
Country has made necessary changes: 29%

Original Source: http://www.humanresourcesmba.net/women-in-the-workplace/

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