it seems like moons ago when women were best known for taking care of children, cooking meals, cleaning dishes, doing house chores, vacuuming… and although i’m sure we – and i use the term ‘we’ very loosely here 
– still do these things quite well, we have made huge progress in the workforce the last few decades.
it came as no surprise to me when the rockefeller foundation’s (in collaboration with time) recent study on gender issues showed that american women have become dominant in society and that they would soon constitute a majority of the workforce. furthermore, the results showed that they earned 57% of college degrees and made 75% of all buying decisions in the home.
other noteworthy statistics:
- today, 57% of college students are women, compared to 43% in 1972
- today, 71% of women with children under 18 years of age are in the labor force, compared to 47% in 1975
- today, 32% of lawyers are women, compared to 3% in 1970
- today, 28% of medical doctors are women, compared to 8% in 1970
although these numbers are nice to see, there still exist many inequalities between the two genders, namely salaries. regardless of the titles and positions that women hold, their pay – today and most probably for years to come – is still less than that of men’s. in 2008, women earned $0.77 for every $1 men earned. don’t get me wrong, i’m not going on a feminist rant here, for i can assure you that i am not an avid supporter of complete equal rights; on the contrary, i think men should assume certain things that women shouldn’t – but that’s just my personal opinion.
in any case, i will stop here and direct you to the extensive and fascinating piece that inspired this post – “the state of the american woman” – it mainly focuses on the landmark study (conducted by the rockefeller foundation) of gender issues to assess how individual americans are reacting. the article was published in the october 14, 2009 issue of time.com. you can read the full story here.
