The differences in job distribution between men and women with occupations have remained a prominent feature in the job market. Jobs of men and women differ significantly across industries, occupations, sectors, and types of jobs. One can tell that by considering the fact when googling “male nurse,” one can be prompted with a question, “what is the name of a male nurse?” This means that everyone wants to know whether there is a specific name for a male nurse since everyone thinks that “nurse” is female healthcare providers. The top answer on google suggests that “a male nurse in the UK is known as nurse.” This implies that some professions are so much gendered that their de facto definition builds their field of operation. “Midwife” and “mailman” are other gender-marked job titles that actively encourage people to define them based on gender.
Some gendered professions are more rooted in traditions. For example, women are seen as nurturers, while men are seen as financial decision-makers. There are even jobs that are more randomly assigned. But who said that driving taxis is the work of men and bank telling is women’s work? Although women have occupied several science industry positions over the past years, the industry still seems more gendered when it comes to the career advancement of women and men. People have the perception that women can only make good nurses but cannot progress to make good CEOs. For example, according to a recent study by Sweden’s Magazine Life Science, more men are on the board of directors in the companies dealing with Life Science. Considering 77 companies that were selected, 43 percent did not have any females on the board. In about 409 members, only 14 percent were female. Also, out of the 77 companies, only seven CEOs were women.
Gender stereotypes have continued to affect the pupil’s career choices and have guided female not to proceed with higher-earning occupations. According to data analyzed by the Financial Times, there is a sharp difference in girls and boys’ attitudes and their desire to pursue science-related careers. Ms. Douglas Harris, the vice president of the Women’s Engineering Society argues that of the 36 wealthy member countries, boys are three times more likely to pursue a science-related career than girls despite their skills. Generally, the skills shortage implies that women with engineering, technology, mathematics (stem), and science are in demand. However, the girls with top results in the world often see related professions as “not for female,” reflecting the high level of stereotypes in society and the lack of role models.
In almost all world countries, there are gendered stereotypes and aspirations among the top science achievers. in most states, at least 30 percent of boys aspired to pursue such a science career. Still, no country reported the same case for girls. This may be due to teachers’ perception that girls cannot pursue a science career because it is hard for them. Data have shown that societal gender stereotypes and lack of female role models play a significant role in guiding pupils to aspire to specific careers.
The pattern has remained for a long time, and there is still more work to do if we want to balance gender. According to European statistics in 2006, women continue to be minorities in scientific research, contributing to 30 percent of researchers in the European Union. The number of females is rising but very slowly. However, the rate of increase rate for women researchers is higher than for men researchers. The European Union has launched campaign aimed at attracting more female to science. The “Science-it’s a girl thing” campaign has helped many women join science. On average, more than one in four boys aspire to work as a science, technology or engineer professional when they attain the age of 30 years.
Several explanations can help us to understand the cause of differences in scientific careers. The results are not clear-cut when it comes to application patterns for males and females. Some studies have shown that the rate to which females apply for posts and promotions is lesser than males, while others do not validate the difference. Other studies point in different directions when it comes to the question of whether some jobs are traditionally gendered; some studies verify this difference.
As women and men have begun to branch out their aspirations for professions and careers, we expect to balance them in every sector, industry, and occupation. This is possible only if we can eliminate such arbitrary gender designations and stop viewing the professions dominated by women as less credible. A survey conducted by CareerBuilder, a recruiting company that tried to track and measure how many jobs in the gender-skewed occupations recruited members of the opposite sex. The results revealed that there is a balance in many female and male-dominated professions.
Men and women continue to sidestep the preconceived notions and stereotypes. They are now shifting to occupy the roles that the opposite sex has traditionally or traditionally filled. Nowadays, the female CEOs in science and life science industries are increasing as more women have aspired to assume top positions in organizations. This trend implies that there will be a balance between men and women in those occupations perceived to be of the opposite sex. CareerBuilder’s study suggested that nearly a quarter of the new jobs in professional typically dominated by men, such as Surgeons, the board of directors and CEOs, were filled by females between 2010 and 2019. Overall, 35% of all occupations or jobs traditionally filled by men are now filled by women workers, which reveals a rising trend. Similarly, men held 40% of the new posts in professions that were traditionally filled by women.
Conclusion
Although the progress towards the balance between men and women in the job is slow, studies show that there is a reason to be optimistic. This is because the gap continues to narrow down. The typical message is now being refreshed, and girls have now begun to study science. Many of them have aspired to pursue science careers, and more boys have wanted to become nurses.