Shattering the Myth of the Glass Ceiling
We often hear that women have been the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action. In fact, whether the credit belongs to affirmative action policies, the birth control pill, economic growth or a combination of factors, women have made remarkable progress in the last 30 years. Why have women succeeded so well while other minorities have not?
First, of course, women aren’t a minority; they constitute more than 51% of the U.S. population. But like racial and ethic minorities, until the 1960s, women generally lacked access to educational and employment opportunities. What did they do when previously closed doors began to open for them? Government-gathered statistics tell the story.
Women went to college. In 1960, only 19% of bachelor’s degrees were awarded to women. By 1992, women received 55% of bachelor’s degrees and 54% of master’s degrees. Note that these figures exceed the percentage of women in the population.
In 1960, women received only 5.5% of medical doctor degrees and 2.5% of juris doctor degrees. By 1992, women represented more than 35% of new physicians and 42% of new lawyers. Today, women constitute more than 22% of doctors and almost 25% of lawyers and judges.
Women also left home and went to work. Today, women constitute 46% of the civilian work force overall. Among women 25 to 54, 74% work outside the home. This includes 60% of married women, up from 32% in 1960.
We often hear about a “wage gap” between women and men. In 1992, the ratio of female to male, year-round, fulltime earnings was 71 cents to the dollar. This includes workers of all ages and all types of jobs. Among workers 25 to 34, the 1992 ratio was 82 cents on the dollar. And in a real “apples to apples” comparison, the gap narrows more. June E. O’Neill, director of the Congressional Budget Office, did a study based on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth by Ohio State University’s Center for Human Resources Research. O’Neill found that among people 27 to 33 who have never had a child, women’s earnings were about 98% of men’s. Similar results occur if you compare the earnings of women and men of the same education and experience in the same professions.
Women outnumber men in several significant job areas. For example, women far outnumber men in health and medicine management (79% female) and personnel and labor relations management (61% female). Women constitute 64% of workers in technical, sales and administrative support and about 60% of workers in service jobs. These are among the fastest growing occupations in America.
Consider, on the other hand, the jobs where men predominate. Women constitute only 24% of machine operators and laborers, 19% of farming, forestry and fishing workers and 9% of production, craft and repair workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says these are among America’s fastest declining occupations. Thus women are concentrated in occupations with good prospects for growth.
Women also have created jobs, for themselves and others. In 1980, there were about 2 million women-owned businesses with about $25 billion in sales. Today, according to the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, nearly 8 million companies with more than $2.25 trillion in sales are owned by women. One in four American workers is employed by a woman-owned business.
Should affirmative action policies receive the credit for women’s success? Assume it’s true. What lessons can we learn about the future of affirmative action? First, merely opening doors--the classic meaning of “affirmative action”--can accomplish a lot if the people who walk through the doors have done their homework by staying in school and getting the training necessary to qualify for jobs they want.
Second, dictating results--as “affirmative action” has come to do through quotas, goals, preferences and set-asides--not only doesn’t help but probably hurts. Suppose women had dedicated all their efforts to penetrating the male-dominated trades mentioned above? They’d have a bleak future, as technology would have marched on anyway, and women would have missed the new opportunities made possible by the technological revolution. Instead, women today are well positioned to participate in the information age.
Finally, the era of affirmative action should teach us that any program purportedly designed to achieve goals must achieve or die. If affirmative action has served its purpose, it should be ended. If, after 30 years, it has not served its purpose, it definitely should be ended.
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