The percentage of women in executive administrative and managerial occupations rose from 39 percent in 1988 to 44 percent in 1996, according to the research. Much of that increase can be attributed to the fact that our hard work is paying off. The pool of qualified women keeps increasing as more of us get the education and experience we need. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be enough in many fields. The research also found that women managers are not only segregated into certain professions, but we earn much less than our male counterparts.
Women are most likely to be managers in fields that employ a lot of women.
For example, we hold three fourths of the managerial jobs in medicine and health but are substantially under-represented among inspectors and protective services. The picture at the very top remains dismal. Women hold less than 3 percent to 5 percent of the top executive positions. Another disappointing finding was that even when men and women held comparable jobs, women earned significantly less. In 1996, the median weekly earnings of full-time female managers was only 67 percent as much as their male counterparts.