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This week, Patrice Sayre sent an interesting article from The New York Times, which was about the fact that rather than taking jobs after college, many young women are postponing their careers to get more education.
An article printed on December 28 entitled “Instead of Work, Younger Women Head to School” notes that economists originally thought that the shrinking labor force was due to unemployed older workers giving up on the job hunt. They were surprised to learn that the lower unemployment rate was, in fact, due to many students who had been projected to be in the job market staying in school, or entering post-secondary training programs including community colleges.
Interestingly, the view about the labor force is different between genders, as the article notes:
“Though young women in their late teens and early 20’s view today’s economic lull as an opportunity to upgrade their skills, their male counterparts are more likely to take whatever job they can find. The longer-term consequences, economists say, are that the next generation of women may have a significant advantage over their male counterparts, whose career options are already becoming constrained.”
Some studies suggest that women are more selective about their job choices than men, the article continues:
“Already earning lower pay, women are less willing to work when wages fall further, especially if they are able to rely on an employed (and these days, often newly re-employed) husband. Women are also more reluctant to work night or weekend shifts, according to government data on how Americans spend their time, partly because they have more family responsibilities.
“The jobs out there just aren’t very good, and men seem more willing to take them for whatever reason,” said Jonathan L. Willis, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. “The women are looking at those same jobs and saying, ‘I’ll be more productive elsewhere.’ ”
These factors are a major reason that community colleges are reporting skyrocketing enrollments. Among all post-secondary options, the enrollment growth is markedly greater for women than men; since 2009, the number of women ages 18-24 increased by 130,000 nationally, compared with only 53,000 for young men.
News is good for women’s employment in the coming decade, however. Not only are the growing occupation needs in the area of home health aides and dental hygienists (traditionally women), but today’s women have a greater sense they can do whatever occupation or career they choose, and often do. And young men aren’t as likely to take jobs in occupations that are traditionally female – they may get teased and bullied for doing so.
The only downside to this trend is the increasing student loan debt, which has been hit by both state budget cuts and increasing inflation. Institutions are increasing class sizes along with tuition, and often have waiting lists because they are unable to provide enough classes.
You may find the following information interesting – it’s an overview of labor force projections from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it outlines jobs with the fastest growth in the coming decade:
Occupations | Percent change | Number of new jobs (in thousands) | Wages (May 2008 median) | Education/training category |
Biomedical engineers | 72 | 11.6 | $ 77,400 | Bachelor's degree |
Network systems and data communications analysts | 53 | 155.8 | 71,100 | Bachelor's degree |
Home health aides | 50 | 460.9 | 20,460 | Short-term on-the-job training |
Personal and home care aides | 46 | 375.8 | 19,180 | Short-term on-the-job training |
Financial examiners | 41 | 11.1 | 70,930 | Bachelor's degree |
Medical scientists, except epidemiologists | 40 | 44.2 | 72,590 | Doctoral degree |
Physician assistants | 39 | 29.2 | 81,230 | Master's degree |
Skin care specialists | 38 | 14.7 | 28,730 | Postsecondary vocational award |
Biochemists and biophysicists | 37 | 8.7 | 82,840 | Doctoral degree |
Athletic trainers | 37 | 6.0 | 39,640 | Bachelor's degree |
Physical therapist aides | 36 | 16.7 | 23,760 | Short-term on-the-job training |
Dental hygienists | 36 | 62.9 | 66,570 | Associate degree |
Veterinary technologists and technicians | 36 | 28.5 | 28,900 | Associate degree |
Dental assistants | 36 | 105.6 | 32,380 | Moderate-term on-the-job training |
Computer software engineers, applications | 34 | 175.1 | 85,430 | Bachelor's degree |
Medical assistants | 34 | 163.9 | 28,300 | Moderate-term on-the-job training |
Physical therapist assistants | 33 | 21.2 | 46,140 | Associate degree |
Veterinarians | 33 | 19.7 | 79,050 | First professional degree |
Self-enrichment education teachers | 32 | 81.3 | 35,720 | Work experience in a related occupation |
Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation | 31 | 80.8 | 48,890 | Long-term on-the-job training |
SOURCE: BLS Occupational Employment Statistics and Division of Occupational Outlook | ||||
You’ll notice that the majority of these careers require at least some post-secondary education, and much more education required for the higher-salaried jobs.
The work of Chrysalis to ensure girls graduate high school and plan to continue their education; we can be proud of the results we’ve seen through our evaluations:
Participants report* increased:
- intent to finish high school
- ability to resist peer pressure
- willingness to take responsibility for actions
- understanding that working hard today makes life a success in the future
(*at a much higher rate than other Iowa school girls)
We’re proud of this work, and we continue to work with Chrysalis Women’s Alliance and grant partners to train and educate women for successful employment and (hopefully) higher-paying jobs.
And our policy and education work around workplace accommodations for working women and families continues to move stakeholders toward a better understanding of the capacity –and needs- of career women.
If you’d not already shared the Chrysalis Conversations information with your friends, please forward the information and registration link: http://chrysalisconversations2012.eventbrite.com
