Gender imbalance in education

[maize]

I was looking at the faculty and staff board at my son's elementary yesterday; out of about 85 photos on the board, only three were male--two teachers and one custodian.

 

Anyone want to discuss gender imbalance among educators--causes and implications?

Edited December 1, 2016 by maize

[Guest]

Cause- pay scale. Union jobs such as PD and FD pay more.

[SparklyUnicorn]

As far as I know it's been that way since forever in this country anyway.

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

Another cause- fear of being accused of sexual assault.

Even dd's swimming teacher freaks out of the kids get too close, and he's in the middle of a public pool with parents watching him. Most of whom have known him since he was a kid and trust him perfectly well.

[Noreen Claire]

In my experience as a public HS teacher, male teachers get promoted out of the classroom to administrative roles while female teachers have babies and come in/out of the profession as needed by their family situation.

[Arcadia]

The guys I know who like teaching would rather be a tutor or teach at private schools or college level where no teaching credentials are required. I have met many male math and science teachers at private schools. The only guy teachers I know in the three elementary schools nearest to me teach 4th/5th grade science. Science is once a week if lucky or a few times a year.

 

K-5 level is very language focus here and I have not met a male language teacher yet in public K-5 schools. Math is like an hour a day. If math and science were given some focus in K-5, maybe you might get more male teachers.

 

As far as I know it's been that way since forever in this country anyway.

It is similar in other countries too with more females teaching K-12th. My male teachers taught chinese, physics, calculus. My biology and chemistry teachers were female.

[Rachel]

Anecdotally it seems there are more male teachers at the high school level. I know about as many male as female teachers, the males move into administration as soon as they have enough experience.

[MotherGoose]

I think that men in general have less tolerance for small children than women, and therefore you see more men in higher grades. I never had male teachers till jr high or high school. My dad taught middle school all his career, but would have had no patience for making kids stand in line, taking care of boo boos, or helping them cut out paper snowflakes. Not to say it can't be done by men, but in general I think most men prefer tesching contact with older kids. The principals were men. I also think that in more traditional societies, females were around for the nurturing and training of the very young, and then when boys got old enough to hunt, fight, etc., dad took more of a leading role. Total and absolute stereotypes here, but I think there's a lot of truth.

[Garga]

My opinion only:

 

Working with children is thought of as a nuturing thing to do. Men are often taught early not to allow their nurturing side come out too much for fear of ridicule. Sure, men have more freedoms than women in many areas, but not in being allowed to show a wide range of emotions. Men are allowed to act angry from time to time, while women are never allowed to act angry. But at least women are allowed to cry and feel and nuture. Men have to shut that part of themselves off in so many cases.

 

Fear of accusations of sexual misconduct.

[maize]

Cause - low status/low pay due to being a largely female industry. Raise status, raise pay, watch the imbalance sort itself out. Alternatively, offer incentives for men to become teachers, and as the gender imbalance shifts, watch pay and status rise.

 

I would expect the same of higher pay and status but I've read that in Finland, where teaching is high status, the male/female ratio among teachers is very similar to that in the US.

Edited December 1, 2016 by maize

[SparklyUnicorn]

Another cause- fear of being accused of sexual assault.

Even dd's swimming teacher freaks out of the kids get too close, and he's in the middle of a public pool with parents watching him. Most of whom have known him since he was a kid and trust him perfectly well.

 

Yeah or a guy who wants to work with little kids must be a pedophile (no I'm not saying I believe that).  Which is a shame. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

My opinion only:

 

Working with children is thought of as a nuturing thing to do. Men are often taught early not to allow their nurturing side come out too much for fear of ridicule. Sure, men have more freedoms than women in many areas, but not in being allowed to show a wide range of emotions. Men are allowed to act angry from time to time, while women are never allowed to act angry. But at least women are allowed to cry and feel and nuture. Men have to shut that part of themselves off in so many cases.

 

Fear of accusations of sexual misconduct.

 

Very true.

[Arcadia]

I would expect the same of higher pay and status but I've read that in Finland, where teaching is high status, the male/female ratio among teachers is very similar to that in the US.

High status doesn't translate to higher pay though.

Huffpost copied the figures from the OECD report. Average teachers pay converted to USD

"12 Finland: $28,780

2 USA: $44,917

1 Singapore: $45,755" http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4037534

 

My dad earned $52k before he retired in the late 90s in Singapore. I earned close to that as a fresh engineering graduate in the same country in the mid 90s. My male engineering fresh graduates colleagues earned more from more job responsibilities like driving and carting heavy CRT monitors to customers. It is over $60k.

 

While teaching is high status in Singapore, guys would prefer teaching at polytechnics (community college equivalent) or universities because of the better pay. I have physics teachers in 11th/12th grade that were former engineers. It was a significant pay cut but it was also a shorter workday and no overtime. The guys lecturers were also the ones who stayed until midnight at the schools study halls during the Cambridge 'A' levels exams season. Their wives were thankfully understanding and supportive of their husbands staying with no overtime pay.

 

My friend was a teacher before being a SAHM. She choose that career because it was an easier re-entry job. She could take up to four years unpaid maternity leave per baby and not lose her job. She gets four months paid maternity leave. I don't have that kind of perk as an engineer in private sector, two months of paid maternity leave than lose my job if I'm not back.

[maize]

Iceland has parity.

 

Though that figure is from 1975 so who knows where it stands today.

[maize]

High status doesn't translate to higher pay though.

Huffpost copied the figures from the OECD report. Average teachers pay converted to USD

"12 Finland: $28,780

2 USA: $44,917

1 Singapore: $45,755" http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4037534

 

My dad earned $52k before he retired in the late 90s in Singapore. I earned close to that as a fresh engineering graduate in the same country in the mid 90s. My male engineering fresh graduates colleagues earned more from more job responsibilities like driving and carting heavy CRT monitors to customers. It is over $60k.

 

While teaching is high status in Singapore, guys would prefer teaching at polytechnics (community college equivalent) or universities because of the better pay. I have physics teachers in 11th/12th grade that were former engineers. It was a significant pay cut but it was also a shorter workday and no overtime. The guys lecturers were also the ones who stayed until midnight at the schools study halls during the Cambridge 'A' levels exams season. Their wives were thankfully understanding and supportive of their husbands staying with no overtime pay.

 

My friend was a teacher before being a SAHM. She choose that career because it was an easier re-entry job. She could take up to four years unpaid maternity leave per baby and not lose her job. She gets four months paid maternity leave. I don't have that kind of perk as an engineer in private sector, two months of paid maternity leave than lose my job if I'm not back.

 

Here's another source indicating that teacher salaries in Finland are higher compared to other professions with similar educational requirements than they are in the US:

 

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2016/06/20/teacher-pay-around-the-world/

Edited December 2, 2016 by maize

[Arcadia]

Here's another source indicating that teacher salaries in Finland are higher compared to other professions with similar educational requirements than they are in the US:

 

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2016/06/20/teacher-pay-around-the-world/

Both Finland and US has lower teacher salaries compared to other professions with similar educational requirements. So there is a pay difference to attract people to other professions unless the person is passionate about teaching. It does in a way tie in to how hard it is to find teachers who like math or science in K-8th. My kids had three female public school teachers who are very good in math but their first degree is not education. They majored in a math related field and could have gotten a job in the finance sector as a mortgage/investment officer. Their public school teacher who was weak in math and science majored in languages.

 

From the Brookings link

"That means that the right way to compare across countries is to look at how teacher pay within the country compares to pay in alternative careers that a person might consider when deciding whether to become a teacher."

"You can see in the chart that both Finland and the United States pay teachers less than they pay other college graduates, but Finland gets notably closer than we do."

[scoutingmom]

My dad was a teacher. Mind you, that was quite a while ago. He has taught at all levels. I think he started in elementary.... He was the 'Third Man'.... Kind of a vice-vice-principal. But that was his title. One of his jobs, besides teaching, was to administer the strap.

 

He did high-school for a number of years... Math and electronics mostly. He did a few years of junior-high. Eventually he taught at a post-secondary technical institute... First electronics, then computers. I think even then most of the elementary teachers were female, and men were more likely to teach high school. (He taught in the 50's-80's, and then the post-secondary stuff in the 80's and 90's.

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[Farrar]

So far as implications go, I don't buy this idea that all these women teaching our boys somehow turns them into sissies, or these women can't possibly understand the needs of boys, blah blah blah.

 

I don't buy that either... but I do think all kids benefit from having different perspectives from their teachers over the years and that having male as well as female teachers would be good for that. Also having teachers of different backgrounds and races. If every teacher a child has is a white woman or, in a different neighborhood, a black woman, I think that's limiting in general. And I've known male teachers who I think bring something different to the table - not something better, but just a different enthusiasm for different things and activities. When I was teaching at a Quaker school, there was one year that we had a nice gender balance and I really liked it.

 

As for the causes and the fix... no clue. I also thought it would primarily be a pay issue - though obviously the whole "women are nurturers and men aren't" thing is in there and the whole sexual assault thing. Sigh.

[maize]

Teachers are also overwhelmingly white.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Teachers are also overwhelmingly white.

 

That too.  And I live in an area where there are more black children in schools than white children.  Most of the teachers are white.

[Guest]

Anecdotally it seems there are more male teachers at the high school level. I know about as many male as female teachers, the males move into administration as soon as they have enough experience.

We noticed that too. Each school level had more males. A handful in elementary school (three of my seven teachers at the schools I attended were males), closer to 30% of my middle school (I had the same male teacher for seventh and eighth grade, and a female for sixth), and probably a 50/50 split in high school. I have had more male professors than female, too.

 

My family has male teachers too, in even number with females - my cousin is a special ed teacher down in California, elementary school I believe (and he is completely amazing), my FIL got his teaching degree and bounced back and forth between engineering and high school advanced math and sciences, and there is one female special ed teacher (my FIL's sister) who retired recently and my other cousin, who teaches kindergarten. Not a bad split.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Arctic Mama

[Reefgazer]

I think this, and the fact that women are more likely than men to consider summers off while their children are young as a selling point of the job (at least that's how it worked in my social circle).

Cause- pay scale. Union jobs such as PD and FD pay more.

 

[Farrar]

Teachers are also overwhelmingly white.

 

Looking at schools in our city, this doesn't feel true, so I looked it up. Wow. They really are. That's a problem too.

[swellmomma]

Growing up i had more male teacjers than female. At the school i work in there is more female but still many men. Same with the other 2 schools. More women but still many men.

[Reefgazer]

It's exactly the reverse where I live, so this may be a city-by-city thing.

Teachers are also overwhelmingly white.

 

[Crimson Wife]

As far as I know it's been that way since forever in this country anyway.

 

No, there are definitely fewer male teachers now than there were when I was growing up.

 

Teachers used to be able to afford to buy a modest home in a decent neighborhood on their own salaries but today they can't unless they're married to someone with a six figure salary. Far more women than men are willing to accept the relatively low salaries that come with teaching because they are more likely to have (or anticipate having) a high-earning spouse.

 

[Bluegoat]

I think there are probably a variety of causes for this.  I think it's nice to have some mix, I do think that good role models of one's own sex, that you actually have a chance to meaningfully interact with, are a good thing.  It doesn't have to be teachers, but kids do spend a lot of their day with them - they are a lot of the adults kids meet regularly. 

 

I think there used to be more male teachers here.  There seem to be fewer men in a lot of leadership roles with kids - they have a hard time getting male scout leaders, for example. But it may be naturally that there are somewhat more women in roles caring for young kids - it may be that men are less often really interested in young children. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

No, there are definitely fewer male teachers now than there were when I was growing up.

 

Teachers used to be able to afford to buy a modest home in a decent neighborhood on their own salaries but today they can't unless they're married to someone with a six figure salary. Far more women than men are willing to accept the relatively low salaries that come with teaching because they are more likely to have (or anticipate having) a high-earning spouse.

 

 

Huh.  There were 3 male teaches total in my elementary school (k-6).  One fifth grade and 2 sixth grade.  There were 2 or 3 teachers for every grade. 

[Arcadia]

Teachers are also overwhelmingly white.

I can't find the ethnic breakdown for teachers in my district or county, only the breakdown for students. We have many Latino teachers and school admins locally. My kids public school teachers were

 

K - Latino

1st - Portuguese, she swap science with another teacher who is African American

2nd - White

3rd - Filipino

4th - Latino

 

Music teacher for the k-8th school was an Asian lady. PE for 5th-8th was a Latino lady.

[kiwik]

So far as implications go, I don't buy this idea that all these women teaching our boys somehow turns them into sissies, or these women can't possibly understand the needs of boys, blah blah blah.

 

Mothers of boys learn how to parent boys and meet their needs (where they are, indeed, different to our girl children)...teachers aren't any stupider than mothers.

 

Bring male retirees into the classroom to mentor if you're super worried. Think outside the box. And for goodness sake, don't blame the women teachers, like it's their fault somehow. At least they've showed up to teach. Blame more boys and families of boys for not encouraging them to devote their working lives to the nurturing and education of small children. Or blame the system.

 

You can tell I've read a gutful of comments about how terrible female teachers are for 'our boys'.

Women have always brought up boys. Mostly without much male input until they were old enough to work. Purely anecdotally in NZ there seem to be about the same number of male teachers as when I was at school in the 1970's. There were 2 or 3 at a time out of 7 when I was a kid. My sons' first school has about 7 or 8 out of 22 to 25 and their current school has 2 out of 8 now but until earlier this year had 3 out of 8 and will again next year. They aren't that common in years 1 and 2 but they do exist.

 

Eta. What I do hate is female teachers with a male principal.

Edited December 2, 2016 by kiwik

[OneStepAtATime]

I have just discovered that I have no idea how many male teachers were in my elementary schools (military brat so I was in a lot of schools).  Until Middle School the only male teacher I had personally was my science teacher in 5th grade but I have NO idea whether there were other male teachers teaching other classes.  Most of the schools I attended were pretty big.  I only remember the teachers I actually had for my particular classroom.  I am really impressed that others here actually remember any teachers other than the one they had.

[maize]

Women have always brought up boys. Mostly without much male input until they were old enough to work. Purely anecdotally in NZ there seem to be about the same number of male teachers as when I was at school in the 1970's. There were 2 or 3 at a time out of 7 when I was a kid. My sons' first school has about 7 or 8 out of 22 to 25 and their current school has 2 out of 8 now but until earlier this year had 3 out of 8 and will again next year. They aren't that common in years 1 and 2 but they do exist.

 

Eta. What I do hate is female teachers with a male principal.

Female teachers with a male principal was the situation at all but one of the schools I attended growing up. I think the principal at my 6th grade school was female, but I may just be remembering the vice principal. I remember her because she used to slap kids (apparently entirely acceptable in French schools at the time, and one of the reasons I laugh at the "French child rearing practices are superior" books and article written by francophile North Americans). Edited December 2, 2016 by maize

[Farrar]

It's exactly the reverse where I live, so this may be a city-by-city thing.

 

 

I can't find the ethnic breakdown for teachers in my district or county, only the breakdown for students. We have many Latino teachers and school admins locally. My kids public school teachers were

 

K - Latino

1st - Portuguese, she swap science with another teacher who is African American

2nd - White

3rd - Filipino

4th - Latino

 

Music teacher for the k-8th school was an Asian lady. PE for 5th-8th was a Latino lady.

 

I'm sure there are exceptions in individual schools. Like I said, it feels like there are plenty of non-white teachers around me. But I was surprised at how stark the nationwide statistics are.

 

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_209.10.asp

 

That has data about gender as well. It seems that there are fewer male teachers than there were in the 80's, though not dramatically so. And diversity of teachers is increasing, though not very quickly.

[Guest]

I wonder if any of it has to do with the diminishing amount of autonomy given to teachers. Men who have the educational level required to be teachers go elsewhere with more independence, respect and autonomy- and as mentioned, for more money. Women, often because of families, are more prone to seek out the flexibility the teaching profession offers and put up with the new restraints and requirements. I have no idea if that's based in reality, but it's something I think of myself. All the new rules and regulations make me wonder why anyone goes into teaching now. 

[vonfirmath]

The guys I know who like teaching would rather be a tutor or teach at private schools or college level where no teaching credentials are required. I have met many male math and science teachers at private schools. The only guy teachers I know in the three elementary schools nearest to me teach 4th/5th grade science. Science is once a week if lucky or a few times a year.

 

K-5 level is very language focus here and I have not met a male language teacher yet in public K-5 schools. Math is like an hour a day. If math and science were given some focus in K-5, maybe you might get more male teachers.

 

 

It is similar in other countries too with more females teaching K-12th. My male teachers taught chinese, physics, calculus. My biology and chemistry teachers were female.

 

They exist. My daughter's Kindergarten teacher this year is male -- and an award-winning teacher at that. Last year, his first year teaching, he made national news and got to go visit President Obama in Washington D.C.

 

 

My son's third grade teacher was male -- there were two male teachers there for the third grade.

 

(The Principal at both schools is female. One has a male vice-principal and the other has a female.  Both nurses are female. All of the counselors are female. Both of the librarians are female. All music directors, PE coaches, and art teachers are female.)

 

Edited December 2, 2016 by vonfirmath

[maize]

They exist. My daughter's Kindergarten teacher this year is male -- and an award-winning teacher at that. Last year, his first year teaching, he made national news and got to go visit President Obama in Washington D.C.

 

 

My son's third grade teacher was male -- there were two male teachers there for the third grade.

 

(The Principal at both schools is female. One has a male vice-principal and the other has a female. Both nurses are female. All of the counselors are female. Both of the librarians are female. All music directors, PE coaches, and art teachers are female.)

I've noticed that male teachers seem get picked out for awards at a disproportionate rate--probably because they stand out for being male in a female dominated profession. That too stood out to me--the same wall that held the current faculty and staff photos had a line of teacher-of-the-year photos going back maybe 15 years. at least 1/4th were males--way, way higher than the current 3-4% male representation in the faculty.

Edited December 3, 2016 by maize

[Farrar]

I wonder if any of it has to do with the diminishing amount of autonomy given to teachers. Men who have the educational level required to be teachers go elsewhere with more independence, respect and autonomy- and as mentioned, for more money. Women, often because of families, are more prone to seek out the flexibility the teaching profession offers and put up with the new restraints and requirements. I have no idea if that's based in reality, but it's something I think of myself. All the new rules and regulations make me wonder why anyone goes into teaching now. 

 

This seems like a chicken and egg thing to me. Like, do fewer men go into teaching because there's a lack of autonomy and respect for the position OR is there a lack of autonomy and respect for the position because it's a female dominated profession?

 

Autonomy is decreasing in the profession - that's pretty well proven.

[Guest]

This seems like a chicken and egg thing to me. Like, do fewer men go into teaching because there's a lack of autonomy and respect for the position OR is there a lack of autonomy and respect for the position because it's a female dominated profession?

 

Autonomy is decreasing in the profession - that's pretty well proven.

 

I hadn't ever thought of it this way. That's an interesting question. Around here, our experience with the public schools was that the teachers and principals were all female until the Jr. High level. We left when oldest finished 6th grade so I have no idea what they high school composition is. 

 

When I was in high school all of the male teachers were also coaches. The principal's were all men. I need to look and see what that's like now. I bet it has changed. 

[mom31257]

Dh is a high school teacher, and his pay would be the same no matter what grade level he taught. A big draw back for him in teaching younger grades would be all the creativity needed in decorating the room, planning crafty lessons, etc. I don't think he'd feel like he'd do a good job with that end of it. 

 

 

[Farrar]

I hadn't ever thought of it this way. That's an interesting question. Around here, our experience with the public schools was that the teachers and principals were all female until the Jr. High level. We left when oldest finished 6th grade so I have no idea what they high school composition is. 

 

When I was in high school all of the male teachers were also coaches. The principal's were all men. I need to look and see what that's like now. I bet it has changed. 

 

And high school teachers are more likely to be slightly more respected... so... a continuation of the chicken and egg issue. I think that's a common set up too.

[Arcadia]

This seems like a chicken and egg thing to me. Like, do fewer men go into teaching because there's a lack of autonomy and respect for the position OR is there a lack of autonomy and respect for the position because it's a female dominated profession?

It is not so much the female dominated profession part that lead to lower respect but the news articles like how low teachers scored on things like SAT, how easy Praxis is, as well as people like my kid's 1st grade teacher who said she can't teach math. When parents see and hear things like that, negative impressions are hard to shake off.

[Farrar]

It is not so much the female dominated profession part that lead to lower respect but the news articles like how low teachers scored on things like SAT, how easy Praxis is, as well as people like my kid's 1st grade teacher who said she can't teach math. When parents see and hear things like that, negative impressions are hard to shake off.

 

While I'm sure those things play some role, teaching has long been underpaid and under-respected in this country, way before there even was a PRAXIS exam, before most kids took what was once an elite east coast college test. It's an ongoing issue and I think it's deeply tied to gender and undervaluing nurturers in general.

[Rosie_0801]

While I'm sure those things play some role, teaching has long been underpaid and under-respected in this country, way before there even was a PRAXIS exam, before most kids took what was once an elite east coast college test. It's an ongoing issue and I think it's deeply tied to gender and undervaluing nurturers in general.

 

I'm not sure if it isn't about undervaluing children too. 

[Arcadia]

I'm not sure if it isn't about undervaluing children too.

Does Australia need certification to be a child care teacher? One of my cousin back home works in child care. When the govt implemented a credential system, people did treat her with more respect. Previously, no childcare teaching credentials were required so childcare teachers were viewed on the same social rank as babysitters.

 

Here the parents would ask about early childhood teacher credentials for private childcare centers when they attend private tours to decide if they want to enroll their child. There is no standardized testing results to look at in the 3-5 years old age group so parents compare teacher credentials.

[Rosie_0801]

Does Australia need certification to be a child care teacher? One of my cousin back home works in child care. When the govt implemented a credential system, people did treat her with more respect. Previously, no childcare teaching credentials were required so childcare teachers were viewed on the same social rank as babysitters.

 

Here the parents would ask about early childhood teacher credentials for private childcare centers when they attend private tours to decide if they want to enroll their child. There is no standardized testing results to look at in the 3-5 years old age group so parents compare teacher credentials.

 

To be in charge of the room, yes. To be an assistant, I'm not sure. Once someone develops a certification for something like that, it becomes necessary, doesn't it?

 

Child care providers still don't have much in the way of social status, regardless of their qualification. It's an area where it is very easy to be overqualified. A friend of mine had a degree in early childhood education and had to work very hard to persuade prospective employees to hire her.

[maize]

I think it is very much about undervaluing children and those who care for and work with children.

[Arcadia]

Child care providers still don't have much in the way of social status, regardless of their qualification. It's an area where it is very easy to be overqualified. A friend of mine had a degree in early childhood education and had to work very hard to persuade prospective employees to hire her.

That is sad. A friend was hired before she graduated from her associate degree in early childhood education. My home country has shortage of early childhood educators so my cousin's employer paid for her certification course. Unfortunately both are very high cost of living places.

[Farrar]

I'm not sure if it isn't about undervaluing children too. 

 

So true.

[daijobu]

The NY Times had an article recently about pay and prestige dropping when women enter a profession.  

 

"Women, for example, are now better educated than men, have nearly as much work experience and are equally likely to pursue many high-paying careers. No longer can the gap be dismissed with pat observations that women outnumber men in lower-paying jobs like teaching and social work."

 

"In fact, another study shows, when women enter fields in greater numbers, pay declines — for the very same jobs that more men were doing before."

 

"Consider the discrepancies in jobs requiring similar education and responsibility, or similar skills, but divided by gender. The median earnings of information technology managers (mostly men) are 27 percent higher than human resources managers (mostly women), according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. At the other end of the wage spectrum, janitors (usually men) earn 22 percent more than maids and housecleaners (usually women)."

 

"The reverse was true when a job attracted more men. Computer programming, for instance, used to be a relatively menial role done by women. But when male programmers began to outnumber female ones, the job began paying more and gained prestige."

 

"Ms. England, in other research, has found that any occupation that involves caregiving, like nursing or preschool teaching, pays less, even after controlling for the disproportionate share of female workers."

[Bluegoat]

The NY Times had an article recently about pay and prestige dropping when women enter a profession.  

 

"Women, for example, are now better educated than men, have nearly as much work experience and are equally likely to pursue many high-paying careers. No longer can the gap be dismissed with pat observations that women outnumber men in lower-paying jobs like teaching and social work."

 

"In fact, another study shows, when women enter fields in greater numbers, pay declines — for the very same jobs that more men were doing before."

 

"Consider the discrepancies in jobs requiring similar education and responsibility, or similar skills, but divided by gender. The median earnings of information technology managers (mostly men) are 27 percent higher than human resources managers (mostly women), according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. At the other end of the wage spectrum, janitors (usually men) earn 22 percent more than maids and housecleaners (usually women)."

 

"The reverse was true when a job attracted more men. Computer programming, for instance, used to be a relatively menial role done by women. But when male programmers began to outnumber female ones, the job began paying more and gained prestige."

 

"Ms. England, in other research, has found that any occupation that involves caregiving, like nursing or preschool teaching, pays less, even after controlling for the disproportionate share of female workers."

 

It would be interesting to know if there are productivity changes with the demographic ones.  It might not be a factor at all, but I know in the case of doctors, female doctors tend to work a good bit less tan male ones.  Which is fine, IMO, but of course they make a little less money, and you need more doctors to serve the same amount of people.