We are 15 years into the new millennium and woman have made great strides toward the top. Women were known as the primary caregivers and domestic engineers and now we have vastly evolved to become much more than that. From breaking into the workforce to taking over male dominated jobs, we as woman are rising to the top in light speed. Since the beginning of time, there has been a clear-cut distinction between the two sexes, male and female. It wasn’t until the mid-40s that this all started to change for the better. World War II, which closely followed the Depression, marked a turning point in the distribution of economic roles between women and men, although it did not necessarily cause the massive changes that were to follow. Women were attracted to war-related industries and they were given access to the more skilled, higher-paying jobs usually held by men. However, after the war was won in 1945, the labor force did not quickly “return to normal.” Instead, a new sense of what is normal emerged. (Powell & Graves, 2003). During this time, it was not unheard of for women to do housework and take on men’s duties. Women were known to be versatile and adapted well to changing roles. Women were taking hold and embracing the change that was to come. Since the early 1970s, women have made tremendous gains in the business world. In 1991, women composed nearly half of the U.S. workforce. The representation of women in management has also steadily grown over the past two
"In 1950 about one in three women participated in the labor force. By 1998, nearly three of every five women of working age were in the labor force" (Heatherfield, n.d., para. 4). In 2008, the U.S. Department of labor estimates that women will make up 48% of the workforce (Heatherfield, n.d., para. 6). As the number of women in the workforce rises so do the numbers of women who hold higher titles such as Chairman, CEO, Vice Chairman, President, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President, and Executive Vice President. This number has increased from 7.3% in 2000 to 9.9% in 2002 (Diversity statistics, 2006).
The role of women changed dramatically in the 1950s as only a decade prior, women were encouraged to move into the workforce to replace men’s job and give aid to injured soldiers. With the conclusion of World War II, governments and societies that just several years earlier had urged women to move into the paid workforce now proposed a different view of women’s role. Women had to give up their jobs to make way for the men they had replaced and return to life before the war. This was a difficult transition for women as many enjoyed the independence
Prior to World War II, many women were unemployed, due to the Great Depression which had started a decade before. With men always getting preference for jobs, there were very few jobs left for women. Consequently, not only were many occupations were reserved for men, but men were also paid wages up to five times higher for the same task as women. Some states also barred married women from holding jobs. However during World War II, America produced at an efficiency which was higher than ever. This meant that the women had an increasing number of jobs. Jobs in the public sector opened up. Since 1939, women progressively changed the idea of patriarchy and the cliché thinking of an average woman in the United States to be a wife and mother.
Hi, Kathleen as you mention in your post woman gain momentum in the workplace. However, women didn’t have the same opportunities as man until World War One. The woman made several advances. (Ryan, 2006). Before that time, there were few professions for women. The woman did numerous jobs that were unheard of before the war. Government position was held by woman helping them to establish laws for woman rights. In the progressive era, the 19th amendment was establish giving women the right to vote. Despite their achievement woman in the workforce still add a long way before they would receive equal
The treatment of the male gender role is altogether different from that of the female gender role, and this issue has turned out to be important. Gender roles were extraordinarily changed in the 1950s, with the men returning from war and taking their occupations back. Females had, throughout World War II, taken men’s occupations while they had been away at war. After the war, numerous women needed to keep their occupations. Instead, a considerable amount of them got to be spouses and moms as the men returned from the war. For example, the male spouses were away at work for most the day while the wives would need to do a decent measure of the manual work around the house. The type of chores could have been cleaning, cooking, or other tasks the female spouses handled. These adjustments in the home might not have been viewed as positive but rather they were for women. Ladies truly advanced in the fifties with finding new openings for work and discovering their place in the world. Therefore, two articles explain further in detail about the
As you know many things have changed since the 1960s and 1970s. For instance, women’s rights. Women rights have come a long way in education, work, family life, politics, and sports. But I am writing to remind you the importance in women’s work force. Women have always in a general manner…been under appreciated. It seemed however that sometimes needs made men realize or potential. You see during world war 2, nearly all women worked…this was directly related to the fact that men where away at war. Women worked both hard labor, and intelligent jobs. After they returned; women gave up their jobs and let men take over. Most women enjoyed the thought of a house life, but I don’t think most knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. Women
The period 1940-1975 represented a time of trouble within the United States and overseas. As World War II ended in 1945, many Cold war conflicts erupted shortly after that, increasing social controversy among teenagers, minorities and especially women. During this time period, gender inequality was ongoing in many aspects of life. Women were tired of constantly staying home engaging in domestic activities and were dissatisfied in their roles as “housewives”. The rise of the women’s rights movement was spurred by the growth of women joining the workforce, resentment of being treated as inferior to men, and the rise of unity among women.
Before the war women had to fit into a stereotype of “the perfect family” (“A Change in”). Prior to 1941 only 30% of women worked for 10 years and only 50% worked for 5 years (Discovery Education). Women were encouraged not to work, because it broke “the perfect family” stereotype (“The Women of”) (“A Change in”). Even husbands did not want their
Undeniably, the outlook of women in the workforce changed following the advent of World War II. Traditionally, the role of caretaker of the house and home was assigned to the woman. Society and institutions facilitated, accepted and supported this way of thinking and way of life. Working outside the home was considered "a man's job". A woman expressing an interest in being anything other than a homemaker and wife was frowned upon. Accepted was the notion that men are better laborers and a woman could not perform at the same level as a man and therefore are undesirable candidates for work in the office or in factories. When America entered in the Second World War, the role of women as primarily stewards of the home was forever changed. As men answered the call of duty, they left behind a void not only in the hearts of their loved ones but also in the workplace. During this time not only were vacancies found in the work that once employees turned soldiers left behind but also we witnessed an increase of labor need for specific industries, such as those that supported the wartime efforts. Women entered the workforce in droves, filling the much needed void in the offices and the factories. Women become the soldiers on the home front and once the war was over, there was no erasing the progress women made in proving capable and ready to hold gainful employment outside the home. This paper addresses women in the workforce,
First, The 1920's were the time of change for women. Women began to work during WWII, while the men went to war. “Although this wartime employment of women did not have as dramatic an impact as it later would in World War II, and although most female wartime workers were not able to continue their jobs following demobilization, the phenomenon nevertheless paved the way for a greater acceptance of middle-class, single—and, to a lesser extent, married (but childless)—women working for pay.
The Great Depression reversed this trend causing women roles in the household enhanced as they were able to balance the house work and make ends meat. Women worked many hours in the 1930’s regardless of not receiving very much pay. Between 1931 and 1941 in Toronto alone women of 14 years of age and above increased from around 91,780 to 111,334 (Srigley, 2005,pg 121). Women who attempted to find work in any shape or form risked the humiliation of society as they were mocked of occupying jobs and money away from men. In the article “Will Women Lose Their Jobs ?” by Norman Cousins, he suggested that “Simply fire the women, who shouldn’t be working anyway, and hire the men.
Women’s involvement in society, especially political events, had increased significantly. In addition to this women have gained more responsibility in providing for their family as well as their own sexulaity. From WW2 onwards, society recognised that women could be helpful in improving the country economically by participating in political and social events as well as being employed in jobs that were originally overruled by men. Although women have been much more active in the workforce gender stereotypes are still as prominent as they were during The Great Depression. Men are still seen to be the dominant provider in the family and are expected to complete all the manual labour whereas women are are thought to be more domesticated and to be employed in jobs that involve minimal physical labour.
American women’s roles greatly expanded during the 1940s when the United States entered World War II. The media and the government’s campaign urged women into the workforce as part of their war effort and patriotic duties, because workers were needed to make weapons and supplies for the war since the men were away fighting. More than six million women entered the workforce, and the majority worked in the industrial sectors in mills, factories, shipyards, and lumberyards. However, once the war ended and the America postwar years began, women’s jobs were given back to men and they were encouraged to go back home or find female occupations. The 1950’s was a time where the cult of domesticity became dominant in the United States during the twentieth century. This decade was the height of the baby boom years and women were expected to stay at home as housewives and mothers. These changing expectations were reflected in the media such as television shows, magazines, and advertisements, cookbooks, and books which helped shape and encouraged women to become housewives in the 1950’s.
In 1920, women won the right to vote and they were gradually moving into the male-dominated labor force, but gender roles were not changing much. Due to the World War II draft, many women entered the labor force and even helped run the country. Upon the return of the veterans, many women were forced back into their homes. However, the opportunities for women were broadening and some women began making careers for themselves outside of the home. The 1960’s saw many feminist movements and in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed by Congress which enticed more women to get out of the house and into better careers.
The changes occurring in the workplace present several sub-trends. One of the most significant is that women are returning to it in large numbers. I use the term returning rather than entering because women comprised a major factor in the workforce during World War II, but was forced out by men returning from the war. Jamieson and O'Mara (1991) project that approximately 50% of the workforce will be comprised of women by the year 2000. Wives came to the rescue of the family in the 1970s and 1980s. Even though male earnings dropped substantially for all but the top 20% of male workers, real household incomes fell only marginally for the bottom 60%, and increased for the top 40%. One third of this increase was a result of a rise in female real annual earnings; however, two-thirds was due to women working more hours per year. Unfortunately, most income earners in the family are now working as many hours as they can. The reentrance of women into the workforce occurred during the transition from the industrial to the information age.