Research

Women in Male-Dominated Industries and Occupations (Quick Take)

May 31, 2023
Male-Dominated Occupations Are Those Held Primarily by Men Rather Than Women1

According to the latest data:

  • Women make up only 5% of those currently working in the skilled trades in Canada.2
  • Just 8% of working women in Europe are in male-dominated industries.3
  • Only 6.5% of women working full-time in the United States worked in male-dominated industries in 2020.4

Women have experienced recent gains in employment in male-dominated fields in the US:

  • Between February 2020 and March 2022 women saw a percentage increase of:5
    • 7% in construction jobs.
    • 15% in transportation and warehousing jobs.

But challenges remain: 

  • Globally, while women’s share of leadership roles has been steadily increasing, this has largely been in industries dominated by women. Energy (20%), manufacturing (19%), and infrastructure (16%) were the three lowest ranking industries in terms of percent increase in 2022.6
  • In Europe, the largest growth in jobs occurred among women in the past two decades, but these jobs have been in women-dominated sectors.7
Women Face Increased Harassment and Discrimination Working in Male-Dominated Workplaces8

Male-dominated industries and occupations may reinforce harmful stereotypes and creating unfavorable environments that make it even more difficult for women to excel.8

Across the globe, women working in male-dominated industries are more likely to experience sexual harassment than those working in other industries.9

  • In 2020, nearly half (47%) of Canadian women working in trades, transportation, equipment operation, and related occupations reported experiences of inappropriate sexual behavior at work.10
  • In the US, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission receives more reports of sexual harassment from women working in male-dominated industries like construction, utilities, mining, and transportation and warehousing.8
    • Women of color, particularly Black women, are least likely to report having support from their managers, which can contribute to a lack of leadership opportunities.8

Women working in male-dominated industries face a variety of challenges in addition to sexual harassment, including:

  • Societal expectations and beliefs that question women’s leadership and managerial abilities.11
  • Pervasive stereotypes leading women to take on necessary but rarely rewarded “office housework”.12
  • High levels of stress, anxiety, depression, lowered self-esteem, and self-handicapping behaviors stemming from feelings of “imposter syndrome”.12
  • Lack of mentoring and career development opportunities.13

Since women are the predominant caregivers in families, they are looked at unfavorably when they need to take time off in industries commonly lacking paid sick leave, like construction.14

Women use various mechanisms to cope with working in male-dominated work environments, such as:

  • Overworking to “prove themselves” which may eventually lead to early burn out.12
  • Giving into pressure to act like “one of the boys,” exacerbating the problem by contributing to the normalization of a “locker room” culture.15
  • Leaving the industry.8
    • Women sexually harassed at work are 6.5 times as likely to change jobs, often to one with lower pay.16
Occupational Segregation Contributes to the Gender Gap8

Women and men remain concentrated in different jobs and fields, a trend known as occupational segregation, which is deeply rooted in racist and societal biases and maintained by policy design.17 Occupational segregation is a significant contributor to the gender and racial wage gap.8

In the US:

  • Jobs that pay more are disproportionally held by White men while those that pay less are disproportionally held by women, especially women of color.8
  • Male-dominated industries aren’t the only sectors with a pay gap: women earn less than men in 94% of occupations,18 even those that are dominated by women.19

In addition to other Catalyst resources on the pay gap, see Women’s Earnings: The Pay Gap (Quick Take) and The Gender Pay Gap (Ask Catalyst Express).

SELECTED INDUSTRIES

Canada20
Industry Total Employed—Percent Women (2022)
Construction 12.4%
Manufacturing, Durables 23.2%
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction 18.8%
Transportation and Warehousing 24.6%
Utilities 26.8%
Europe21
Total Employed—Percent Women by Industry (2022) EU-27 France Germany Netherlands Sweden UK
Construction 10.4% 12.8% 14.3% 12.1% 11.1% 14.8%
Manufacturing 30.7% 31.5% 27.0% 23.4% 25.1% 26.3%
Mining and Quarrying 14.2% 16.4% 21.3% 15.4% * 26.1%^
Transportation and Storage 22.5% 26.8% 24.7% 23.6% 22.1% 23.4%

*No data available
^Mining, Energy, and Water Supply

United States22
Total Employed—Percent Women (2022) All Women White Women Black Women Asian Women Latinas
Construction 10.9% 9.4% 0.8% 0.4% 2.7%
Manufacturing 29.3% 22.3% 3.6% 2.5% 5.7%
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction 16.0% 13.6% 0.8% 1.3% 2.0%
Transportation and Utilities 25.3% 16.9% 5.9% 1.4% 5.3%

LEARN MORE

How to cite this product: Women in male-dominated industries and occupations: Quick take. (2023). Catalyst.

  1. Examples of male-dominated industries include manufacturing, construction, and professional and business services. Occupations with the smallest share of women workers. (2021). U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau.; Zhavoronkova, M., Khattar, R., & Brady, M. (2022). Occupational segregation in America. Center for American Progress.
  2. Menard, J. (2022, August 22). Women in the trades are under-represented in Ontario but women are overcoming perceptions. The Star.
  3. McCaughey, M. (2023, 15 March). Separate and unequal: Gender segregation at work. Social Europe.
  4. Hegewisch, A. & Mefferd, E. (2021). The gender wage gap by occupation, race, and ethnicity 2020. Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
  5. Hegewisch, A. & Mefferd, E. (2022, April 13). Women make gains in men-dominated jobs, but still lag behind in COVID-19 recovery. Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
  6. Global gender gap report 2022. (2022). World Economic Forum.
  7. Hurley, J., Grubanov-Boskovic, S., Bisello, M., Vacas-Soriano, C., Fana, M., & Fernández-Macías, E. (2021). European Jobs Monitor 2021:  Gender gaps and the employment structure. Eurofound, European Commission-JRC.
  8. Zhavoronkova et al. (2022).
  9. Zhavoronkova et al. (2022); Burczycka, M. (2021). Workers’ experiences of inappropriate sexualized behaviours, sexual assault and gender-based discrimination in the Canadian provinces, 2020. Statistics Canada; Folke, O. & Rickne, J. (2022). Sexual harassment and gender inequality in the labor market. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 137(1), 2163–2212; Part 1: Sexual harassment: an overview. Australian Human Rights Commission.
  10. Burczycka, M. (2021).
  11. Crawford, J.T. (2021). Imposter syndrome for women in male dominated careers. Hastings Women’s Law Journal, 32, 26-75.
  12. Crawford, J.T. (2021).
  13. Sturgeon, V. (2022, May 19). All hands needed: Creating opportunities for women in male-dominated fields. Forbes.
  14. Sugerman, L. #MeToo in traditionally male-dominated occupations: Preventing and addressing sexual harassment. Chicago Women in Trades.
  15. Sugerman, L.
  16. Sexual harassment and the gender wage gap. (2022). National Partnership for Women & Families.
  17. Zhavoronkova et al. (2022); Brady, A.M., Lieberwitz, R, & Cunningham, Z. (2023). Equity in focus: Job creation for a just society. Cornell University, ILR School, The Workers Institute.
  18. LePage, B. & Tucker, J. (2023). A window into the wage gap: What’s behind it and how to close it. National Women’s Law Center.
  19. Glynne, S.J. & Boesch, D. (2022, March 14). Connecting the dots: “Women’s work” and the wage gap. U.S. Department of Labor Blog.
  20. Statistics Canada. (2023). Table 14-10-0023-01: Labour force characteristics by industry, annual (x 1,000) [Data set]. (2023). Labour force survey.
  21. Europe data: Employment by sex, age and economic activity (from 2008 onwards, NACE rev. 2) – 1 000, 2021Q1 [Data set]. (2023). Eurostat; UK data: EMP13: Employment by industry [Data set]. (2023). Office for National Statistics.
  22. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023). Table 14: Employed persons in nonagricultural industries by age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, 2022 [Data set]. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.