As Labor Market Tightens, Women Are Moving Into Male-Dominated Jobs

The three most male-dominated sectors and the three fastest-growing sectors since December 2016 are mining, construction, and transportation and utilities, but in the same period, women's employment in these sectors rose more than 10 percent, reports the New York Times . A faster rate of employment growth for women was focused in sectors that are at least 66 percent male, where women's employment rose 5 percent, compared to 3 percent for men. However, only 11 percent of women currently work in male-dominated fields, and experts expect female-dominated occupations like healthcare will grow fastest over the long term. "In a tight labor market, firms give workers a chance they would not otherwise consider," says Harvard University's Lawrence Katz. "But the tight labor market could facilitate longer-term change if it demonstrates to firms that they should be more open to women in previously male-dominated areas." In male-dominated industries, the fastest growth for women has been at building sites and on the factory floor, instead of in the accounting office; women's employment rate climbed 6.9 percent, versus 2.3 percent for men. Meanwhile, in mixed- and female-dominated jobs within male-dominated industries, men's employment grew 4.3 percent to women's 3.8 percent. The expansion of women in male-dominated jobs might last only as long as the labor market remains tight.