Women Expected to Grow in Numbers, Status in Workplace

Women Expected to Grow in Numbers, Status in Workplace
When opportunity knocks be ready. Visit Resume to Referral today.

ABC’s drama (not cancelled) Commander and Chief starring Geena Davis was praised by many for centering a television show around a woman of power. The fictional drama focuses on the character Mackenzie Allen, who is America’s first female president, and how she handles the issue of being the first woman president along with managing her family life. Many looked at the show as a sign of things to come when a woman occupies the White House as president rather than taking on the role of First Lady.

The future of women in the workplace remains to be seen, but conventional wisdom would suggest that more and more will attain positions of power across a broad spectrum of the work environment. How quickly that happens, however, remains to be seen.

One prediction that’s already come true is that more women are working than ever before. The trend toward year-round work by women has increased by nearly half since 1967, according the U.S. Department of Labor. In the same time period, men is the labor force has actually declined from 80 percent to 75 percent.

The number of women working will no doubt continue to rise, which will have a major consequence on the business environment since women will still maintain the primary role of taking care of the family. This dynamic will likely continue to increase the rate of absenteeism in the workplace since women have the bulk of responsibility when caring for children as well. For this reason, employers are being forced to become more family friendly, whether they like it or not, to attract the top talent. Therefore, job sharing, telecommuting, flexible schedules, have and will continue to become part of the lexicon in the 21st century workforce.

The world has come a long way since the 1960s, when some newspapers still had separate job listings for men and women. Technology has changed the pace tremendously, however, and access to information has grown more in the last 10 years than it did in the 100 years before combined. But will women come along for the ride?

The industry that relies heavily on math, science and engineering is not known for being heavily dominated by women. But with increased global competition in technological arenas, the U.S. will have to double its efforts to encourage girls and women to solve this critical issue. And it just might be one of the major issues for that first female president of the United States.