What type of jobs are women dominating in employment growth today?
For decades, men have overshadowed women in the job market—grabbing better-paying positions and boasting higher levels of education. Actually, it is safe to say that for the past 30 to 50 years, the job market was vastly controlled by men. But the reality is quietly settling in recent years where women have surged ahead of their male counterparts. Young women are replacing men in male-dominated careers, or should we just call them current job markets? It is one of the most substantial transformations we have seen.
In the recent Australian labour trends, female participation is growing nine times the rate of men. Women seem to be dominating in both full time and part-time employment opportunities in Australia. Well, that is Australia alone; a recent US census bureau analysis recorded that more young women obtained college degrees, joined the workforce, and edged out millennial men for better-paying jobs.
So why are we paying attention to participation? Participation in any way in the job market is a game-changer—whether it is simply looking for a job opportunity, being employed, or seeking promotion for higher positions in organisations—simply participating is an overall indicator of the health and growth of any economy. It helps us understand and measure how the labour force is being distributed to the people who we know should be engaging in labour based on age—typically those individuals aged 18 – 64 years.
Female participation in Australia has increased dramatically over the past three decades, from 40 per cent to 60 percent compared to male involvement, which has fallen from a whopping 80 percent to 70 per cent. A lot has contributed to these changes, particularly the aspect of gender parity in the country. The increased support of girls education, growth in female-dominated fields like education and health and competition for degree attainment are all significant contributors to these patterns.
The decline in male participation has also been contributed by a number of factors. Such factors include slow growth in traditional male populated fields like trade and manufacturing, the focus on college qualifications rather than focusing on employment and many others. These patterns aren’t slowing down and may continue, which means that the female and male labour force participation rates are likely to converge in the next 15 years to come.
A noteworthy point to pin down is that more industries are growing to keep up with the pace of technology. The market has seen equal interest and participation of both male and female in these new industries. For instance, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and information technology are the fastest growing industries in the market today. Research has also confirmed that these industries may take over in the next 10 – 15 years. Female as well as male students have been reported to have shown equal interests in the fields.
Another contribution to these patterns is the fact that women and girls are ditching the traditional female-dominated sectors like education and health. Today, girls are showing interests in other disciplines like engineering, accounting, and technology. The conventional industries are then left for the ageing employees.
On another look, both male and female students are showing interests in these female-dominated industries due to the advancement of modern equipment and the use of technology. This has largely been contributed by the vast ageing and ailing population across the world. Age-related ailments have been on the rise, and some countries may suffer sparse population due to loss of lives as the senior population seems to be the largest. The aged, as well as the physically disabled, also fall in these categories. Therefore, the health sector is a huge industry and a growing one where girls and women are showing vast interest. The health industry in any country is proliferating, and as it advances with modern technology so are its employees.
In the past, female employees preferred part-time jobs to full-time jobs. Today that has changed as more female employees are applying for full-time positions. In fact, it is reported that more male candidates are going for part-time jobs than female. In the last four decades, the male part-time work has increased almost fourfold from 5 percent to 18 percent.
I want to conclude by mentioning that female domination in major fields is not slowing down anytime soon, and there is a secret reason. The service sector currently dominates today’s labour market, and this is generally a female-dominated area. As long as the demand for a caring, empathetic, and passionate labour force continues to hold the key in the job market today, there isn’t going to be any substantive substitute anytime soon. In other words, automation, construction, and mining come and go but caring jobs “services” are here to stay.
If you need help with finding talent in your organisation, I can help. Contact me on alma@wimmigrants.com.au
