Dive Brief:
- Women make up the majority of workers in jobs most heavily requiring social or fundamental skills, a new Pew Research Center study found. These jobs include positions in law, education and counseling, Pew said. Pew noted more women are participating in occupations relying on analytical skills, such as accounting and dentistry.
- In other findings, women's earning are growing faster than men's as they make their mass entry into in-demand careers. Their wages, while not yet on par with men's, rose from $15 an hour to $22 an hour on average between 1980 and 2018. The growing number of women in higher-skilled occupations, with higher levels of education, is helping to close the gender pay gap, Pew concluded.
- The study also found that emerging jobs — such as "database architects, informatics nurse specialists and video game designers" — require greater analytical skills.
Dive Insight:
The Pew Research Center results signal a positive trajectory for skilled, well-educated women, but automation and artificial intelligence could jeopardize the jobs of 40 to 160 million women world-wide, requiring them to attain higher level skills or face lower wages, barriers to advancement and other job-related setbacks, according to a McKinsey Global Institute report.
Women are still notably underrepresented in tech jobs, even as their numbers grow in skills-related careers. A recent survey found that the skills gap in tech is wide across the board. And although most decision makers in the survey said they planned to increase their workforce, 80% recognized the acute skills gap and the hiring challenge it presents in the tech industry.
As more women move into skills-heavy jobs, and analytical roles in particular, their numbers in tech may rise. Employers can take steps to recruit more women into tech, Rachael Andrews, of WhiteHat Security, wrote in an opinion article for HR Dive. She recommended that employers: set up formal mentorship or advisor programs; pair women with other women on teams; let women break other women out of silos; share solutions on a global level; and support STEM programs for young women.
