10 male-dominated jobs where women are joining the ranks the fastest
A new LinkedIn report sheds light on some positive momentum women are making at work.
According to the networking site’s analysis of U.S. member profiles across 568 occupations, hiring in 23 occupations has flipped from majority male to majority female in the past five years.
The job that saw the biggest gain in new female employees is the role of retail operations manager. In 2015, 47% of new hires were women; in 2019, 65% of new hires were women.
Other jobs that have reached hiring parity include roles across marketing, business operations and health care.
The number of women being hired improved for 68% of the occupations LinkedIn analyzed.
Education could be a major factor in why more women are getting hired, says Laura Lorenzetti, senior editor at LinkedIn.
“Women are gaining the skills and education needed to get in the door within specialized careers, and in many cases, they are gaining those skills at a greater rate than men,” Lorenzetti tells CNBC Make It. She cites figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that women are more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree by age 31 than men. “That’s shifted the pipeline of eligible and desirable workers — and that’s now showing up in hiring for these roles.”
These findings come at a time when women make up the majority of the U.S. workforce and outnumber men for the first time since 2010. According to the BLS, women currently make up 50.04% of payroll jobs.
Part of this has to do with the types of jobs women are more likely to do and how these industries fared in the past year.
“The economy created exactly 10 times as many jobs in the services sector than in the goods-producing sector in 2019,” says Julia Pollak, labor economist at jobs marketplace ZipRecruiter. “So, it was a very weak year for male-dominated manufacturing, oil and gas industries and a very strong year for female-dominated industries such as health care and education.”
But women are making inroads at previously male-dominated fields, too. In LinkedIn’s analysis, professions such as professor and funeral director also saw greater balance in men and women taking on new roles.
Experts point to several paths that can improve parity in the hiring and promotion process, including greater access to mentorship and sponsorship, as well as limiting gendered performance bias.
Lorenzetti adds women who have been successful publicly may inspire other women to consider the job for themselves. When more women join the field and succeed, it can have a lasting impact on what kind of worker is encouraged, and welcomed, to join certain professions.
Here are the top jobs where women have made the biggest gains in being hired, plus national pay data according to LinkedIn.
10. Customer service support manager
Share of women hired in 2019: 50.1%
Median salary: $55,000 per year
9. Environmental consultant
Share of women hired in 2019: 51.0%
Median salary: $57,800 per year
8. Animation specialist
Share of women hired in 2019: 52.2%
Median salary: $43,900 per year
7. Web designer
Share of women hired in 2019: 53.4%
Median salary: $52,000 per year
6. UX designer
Share of women hired in 2019: 53.6%
Median salary: $80,000 per year
5. Public policy specialist
Share of women hired in 2019: 54.0%
Median salary: $57,800 per year
4. Dental technician
Share of women hired in 2019: 54.1%
Median salary: $22 per hour
3. Medical officer
Share of women hired in 2019: 54.7%
Median salary: $105,000 per year
2. Graphic production manager
Share of women hired in 2019: 54.9%
Median salary: $62,400 per year
1. Retail operations manager
Share of women hired in 2019: 65.3%
Median salary: $55,300 per year