Advancing Women in the Workplace Through a Gender-Targeted Approach to Workforce Development

It is no surprise that the Great Recession, which officially lasted from December 2007 to January 2009, was one of the deepest economic downturns the nation has ever faced, second only to the Great Depression in terms of employment contraction. In 2008 and 2009 alone, the labor market lost 8.4 million jobs—or a 6.1 percent drop in jobs—compared to 3.1 percent job loss in the deep recession that began in 1981.

Further, the effects of an economic downturn continue to be felt well after its official end. During the Great Recession, the share of the unemployed labor force rose higher than at any point in the previous six decades for more than 26 weeks. Over a third of the unemployed in April 2014 had been looking for work for a minimum of 27 weeks. The severe problems workers continue to face—from economic insecurity to long-term unemployment—emphasize the need for government workforce initiatives.

Robert Cherry and Mary Gatta, in their recent report, “Introduction: The Need for Gender-Targeted Workforce Development Activities,” discuss the evolution of government workforce development initiatives and the persistence of gender segregation that such initiatives appear to reinforce. The authors conclude that the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) should counter the gender segmentation that training programs reinforce, channeling women into lower-paying jobs. Workforce development programs, according to Cherry and Gatta, should instead prepare women for new occupations in technology and manufacturing and should expand the training and employment of teenage women to advance the position of female workers.

Cherry and Gatta examine the WIA with a particular focus on the persistence of gender segmentation that workforce training programs supposedly reinforce. While the past three decades have seen a general decline in gender wage disparities, wage gains have stalled since 2005, according to their research. The authors suggest that the advancement of female workers may continue to stall based on the past experience of women in occupations that do not require a four-year college degree.

During the first six years of expansion (1991-1997), research shows a substantive increase in female wages in occupations that require a four-year college degree. In contrast, in five of the nine national regions, the female-to-male wage ratio in non-college-required occupations is either unchanged or declined. A similar pattern occurs in the aftermath of the 2001 recession, when wage gains did not filter down to less-educated female workers. In particular, wage gains for single mothers are negligible. Thus, while economic expansion and the advancement of women in professional labor markets may increase the national gender wage ratio, less educated female workers continue to face persistent inequalities.

As the problems female workers face—from long-term unemployment to increasing economic insecurity—may be more severe than in previous years, programs that target the advancement of working-class women continue to be critical in today’s economy. Women have fared far worse than men in the first stages of economic recovery due in part to the occupational differences between men and women. In general, women tend to dominate lower-paying occupations than men and the most at-risk manufacturing and retail jobs. While, beginning in the 1980s, nonprofits and government agencies developed programs to train and encourage women to enter male-dominated occupations, research suggests that the increase of female shares in traditional male-dominated occupations has slowed. The authors attribute this to the lack of women moving into male-dominated occupations because of discrimination, lack of support for balancing work and family, and work hours required.

In the decade between 2001 and 2010, the employment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds fell from 42.3 to 25.9 percent. In general, a shortage of jobs is thought to be harmful to both the earnings and work experiences of young people and can also affect family formation. Notably, the current economic downturn has been most harmful for black teenage women, according to Cherry and Gatta. Consequently, the authors conclude that WIA placement policies reinforce gender disparities and assert that the WIA should counter gender segmentation. Training programs should aim to train women for newer, technology-based occupations such as information technology and should expand the training and employment of teenage women. Moving forward, additional research should pay attention to the experiences of women within workforce development initiatives to ensure the economic security of women within the workforce system.

Article Source: Robert Cherry and Mary Gatta, “Introduction: The Need for Gender-Targeted Workforce Development Initiatives,” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, May 2014.

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