Beyond Barbie's Imaginary Realm, Here's What Women Tackle in Jobs Across Sectors
In Greta Gerwig's 2023 blockbuster, the narrator says, “Barbie has a great day every day,” and that's true because she gets to be a judge, a lawyer, an athlete, a doctor, and everything she wants. In real life, we hardly have the choice or the luxury to pursue these diverse career options. A new report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that in 2023, around 374,000 women were working as lawyers and 34,000 as judges or other judicial workers, as reported by CNBC. Around 44,000 women worked as writers, 46,000 as editors, and 240,000 in construction and extraction jobs.
Gerwig's film also shows Barbie enjoying her life and taking up independent roles. Like in the Barbie land, women are making progress and establishing their hold in every field. In 2023, 5,000 women were pursuing professional athletics, and 29,000 women were working as coaches and scouts. 2023 is the year for women, where around 5,000 women started their profession as astronomers and physicists, out of a total of 753,000 women involved in science jobs.
The chief economist at ZipRecruiter, Julia Pollak mentioned, “The group doing best in the economy is college-educated women." The female participation in leadership is only gradually going up, and the recent changes to the economy, like the shift to remote work, really do stand to benefit women substantially." As women’s participation in the labor force has increased over the years, the group continues to face hurdles along the way. Job opportunities for women have expanded over the last 20 years, which means that there are more chances for them to earn and become financially independent. The wage gap between men and women employed in the same roles has been a long-standing concern but the condition has now improved slightly as women are equally (or more) qualified (than men) and have established themselves as CEOs and CFOs of companies.
Alí R. Bustamante, an economist and deputy director at the Roosevelt Institute states, "The employment-to-population ratio for prime-age women or those between the ages of 25 and 54 is the highest it has been since 2001." Nowadays, women make 84 cents for every dollar men make as per the data published by the U.S. Census Bureau data. The lower pay gap showcases the improved situation of the market as well as the company's mindset. Pollak further mentions, "When unemployment is below 4%, for example, we find that participation rises, and a lot of that participation increases among women." She says that women are more inclined and passionate to enter the job market, especially after the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. With the introduction of remote work or permanent WFH policies, companies have seen a shift in their employee ratio, attributing more positions to women.
Even though the job market has shifted and pay gaps are being tackled, women still face major challenges at work. Pollak further explained that some of these problems are attributed to gender discrimination, old-school mentality, politics, cultural issues, and the other choices we make in our personal lives. Not all obstacles are work-based; some are related to one's personal life, choices, and attitude toward work. For example, even though the government is investing a lot of money in construction, only about 10% of workers are women, according to Bustamante.