Factors affecting women's entry and professional attainment in male-dominated fields

¶ … female workforce in Australia. The author explores statistical evidence that females are outpacing males when it comes to entering the professional areas of the workforce. The writer examines some of the factors that contribute to this and explains them. There were 10 sources used to complete this paper.

THE INFLUX OF WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE EXPLAINED

Most people are aware of the worldwide women's movement that has taken place over the past few decades. Historically, women stayed home and tended to children and cleaning, while the men went into the world, carved out careers and brought home the bacon. Several decades ago however, it all changed and women began to demand their rightful place in the workforce. Pursuing degrees, getting technical training and other elements have all been done and today there are more women working outside of the home than ever before. Even with the women's movement comfortably settled in however, it may surprise some to know that women are outpacing men in entering the professions in Australia. Whether it is becoming a doctor, an architect, an accountant or other professional, women are joining the ranks at a faster rate and higher percentage than their male counterparts are doing. At first glance this appears to be an inexplicable phenomenon, however, when one studies the information carefully it is easy to determine the root cause of it's occurrence. The very fact that women have not been in the professions until recently contribute to the jump in percentage rates today. Add to that the fact that many colleges are recruiting women to attend and then upon graduating they are being recruited into professional professions by organizations that want to even the playing field it is not hard to understand the current statistical phenomenon of women entering the professions at a higher rate than men are.

STATISTICAL PROOF

There are many areas of life in which people have to form their opinions based on what they think, hear, see or imagine. There are few statistical elements to back up the claims. In the field of employment however, there are many statistical benchmarks by which a person can draw accurate and logical conclusions. Recent statistical information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics concluded that women are entering the professions at record breaking percentages (Pryor, 2005).

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the number people aged over 15 with a job rose to 60.8 per cent in January 2005. This is a record and is due to largely to an increase in the number of women in the workforce. The proportion of the female population in work rose to a record 53.6 per cent. When monthly statistics were first recorded in 1978, the ratio of women workers to the total female adult population was 39.8 per cent (Pryor, 2005)."

Other studies also conclude that women are "powering ahead of men" when it comes to entering the professional markets in Australia. There are many elements that contribute to this occurrence (Women, 2005). One report indicated that female graduates are securing positions at a faster rate than their male counterparts can do it. Contributing to this may be the fact that companies and government organizations wish to balance their gender numbers to avoid any appearance of gender discrimination. When faded with a male and a female who are equally educated, equally qualified and equally personable, many employees are choosing to hire the female candidate over the male candidate so that they will not later be sued for discrimination. In addition, there are many business administration and other loans available to business that have a strong female professional base.

A company may be in need of funding at the moment of hire, or may understand that at a future time they may need to apply for financial aid. Having women in high placed positions can often times lead to some of the funding opportunities that are not openly available to other businesses.

With this in mind it makes smart business sense to hire the women more often than the men when everything else is equal (Women, 2005).

According to the latest Income and Wealth report by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) and AMP the workforce participation of men has fallen by 3.5% while the rate of women has climbed 11% points in recent years (Women, 2005).

The report also examined the participation by women in the professional fields with much the same results.

It show that the "number of women with degrees who have jobs in the Australian workforce has increased from one in 10 in 1990 to one in four today (Women, 2005)."

This indicates that women who pursue higher educational degrees are no longer content to use those degrees in the home, but instead are venturing out into the world and putting them to work.

The report also reveals that about 43 per cent of all new jobs created since 1990 went to female graduates (Women, 2005)."The report provides great news for women," AMP Financial Services managing director Craig Dunn said. "Educated young women are getting more job opportunities than ever before, while other women are heading back to work in larger numbers (Women, 2005)."

The same institution explored the professional fields compared to the traditionally "blue collar" positions and found that the increase of women in the professional fields is larger than the increase of women in the blue collar jobs. This percentage increase may be explained in part because of the recent influx of females applying for them, while women working in the "blue collar" positions have been there for decades (Women, 2005).

While there is a proven increase of women entering the professional fields when compared to their male counterparts there are still many discrepancies in the way females are treated compared to the males, even in the professions. Some of those differences include:

In 2000, the median retirement account balance among those with superannuation was $13-400 for men and $6,400 for women (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001b).

Compared with men, women earn relatively low wages, accumulate lower retirement savings and are dependent on both private and public transfers as sources of retirement income (Jefferson, 2005)." recent examination of women's working habits revealed that women by and large are not provided with the same pay or benefits as men. This discrepancy continues even given the statistical evidence that females are entering the professional fields at a higher rate then men are (Jefferson, 2005).

This statistical information may help to explain the higher rate of entrance into the professions by women.

If XYZ company decides to hire four executives and they are presented with four female and four male candidates who are all equally qualified, the company might hire the four females because the company can get away with paying them less of a starting salary, and providing fewer perks and benefits.

It is an unfortunate fact of Australian professions that women are generally paid less than men are in the same filed. If a company can hire women at a lower rate and many companies across the land do the same it is going to naturally boost the female numbers higher then the men's numbers when it comes to studying the percentage of males compared to females entering the professions.

One reason for women's lower levels of lifetime earnings is that when engaged in paid work, they earn less than men. There is a large literature discussing women's over-representation in occupations and industry sectors which have both relatively low rates of pay and are less likely to offer stable, full-time, long-term employment and there are important links between women's unpaid responsibilities and their experiences in the paid labour market (Jefferson, 2005)."

When examining reasons for the high percentage of females entering the profession one must give exploration to what it takes to be a professional. When one graduates with a degree that prepares them for a professional career that person has gone through many hours of classroom training to prepare themselves for the work world. In addition to major specific course that person has also been required to take on speech and communication courses as well as business courses about the work world in general and how it operates (Evans, 2003).

Unlike women who work in the "blue collar" positions in the world, the women who are degreed in the professional sector have confidence that they have received the same training and preparedness that their male counterparts have received. This most likely provides them with the confidence to go out into the world and sell themselves during the interview process.

One profession is the health profession that women have dominated for years. While they used to fill the role of nurse to the professionals, recent history has seen changes and the professions have begun to see an increase in female participants. Across the board however, the numbers are reflecting similar trends.

Working within the health services sector, with its majority female workforce, it is easy to believe that inequality for women does not exist. As we take a broader view of the Australian employment landscape, a very different picture emerges. The inaugural census of women in business (released in 2002) surveyed the top 152 companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and reported that women held 8.4% of executive management positions, 52.6% of companies had no women executive managers, only 17.8% of companies have two or more women executive managers, and women held just 5% of all line positions. At the Board Director level, women held 8.2% of directorships but 46.7% of companies had no women directors, and 9.9% of companies had two or more women directors. Not surprisingly, given the small numbers of women in core executive positions, just two of Australia's top 200 listed companies employed a woman as CEO. The census itself has enabled focus to be created, and will ensure the trend is positive when we next measure the number of women in senior roles (Evans, 2003)." final element that may be contributing to the high percentage of females entering the professional fields in Australia as compared to the men entering the same fields is the current divorce rate (Anjali, 2004). The divorce rate in Australia is higher than ever before. Coupled with this is the fact that women are now encouraged to wait to marry and instead have a life of their own for several years before agreeing to settle down with a lifetime mate.

Single women need to support not only themselves but in many instances they have family obligations as well (Anjali, 2004).

When a woman gets divorced and has to support her children she wants to be able to do so in the best lifestyle she can provide for them. Entering the professional world is one way to insure that she can do that (Anjali, 2004).

The number of single women in Australia today is climbing. Statistically they are waiting several years later than in recent history before they agree to settle down in a marriage of a live-in arrangement.

Because of this they are in need of incomes similar to a man's so that they may support themselves and their families.