Women's Economic Security (Part 3)

Nearly 75 percent of tomorrow’s jobs in the United States will require the use of computers, but today, fewer than one-third of participants in computer courses and related activities are girls. While women have made gains in terms of how many enroll in undergraduate study (57 percent), the fields they pursue tend not to be focused on math or science and tend to lead to lower-paying jobs.

Studies indicate that women pursue a higher proportion of degrees in education and sociology, whereas men are more likely to major in computer science, engineering and physics, degrees that will translate into occupations in business and industry that have among the highest-paying jobs.

Women are highly overrepresented in the service sector, making up 69 percent of clerks and skilled and unskilled service workers. Tour participants expressed enthusiasm for building on a variety of strategies already in place to speed the rate at which women are able to move into higher-wage, traditionally male-dominated jobs.

For example, in San Francisco, women who are able to take advantage of basic computer skills training have succeeded in finding jobs with starting salaries that range from $32,000 to $45,000, a huge jump from their $11,500 average annual salary prior to the training.

Women who complete certification courses in the biotechnology industry have experienced similar success. In traditional blue-collar trades like construction and electrical work, programs that offer access to peer networking and ongoing training have proven instrumental in ensuring that pre-apprentice, apprentice and journey tradeswomen are able to protect their jobs and advance.

Tour participants also spoke about the need for employers to be more responsive to the role women play in family life. Currently, only one in three workers can use paid sick leave to care for their children, while 77 percent of the lowest-paid workers have no paid sick leave at all.

Higher education

Tour participants underscored the role of access to higher education and specialized training as a means for helping women achieve greater economic security. Currently, a woman with a two-year associate’s degree earns 28 percent more than one with only a high school education, while a woman with a bachelor’s degree earns 75 percent more than one with only a high school education.