{"id":270098,"date":"2025-07-17T10:54:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T14:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=270098"},"modified":"2025-07-17T10:54:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T14:54:57","slug":"women-are-a-rising-share-of-us-managers-and-professionals","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/07\/17\/women-are-a-rising-share-of-us-managers-and-professionals\/","title":{"rendered":"Women are a rising share of U.S. managers and professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"JeNae
JeNae Johnson works at a computer in her home office. She is the president and CEO of CTM Unlimited, a company that helps workplaces change their corporate culture. (Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Women hold a rising share of high-paying occupations in the United States.<\/a> They are also a growing share of managers and professionals, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of federal data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/summary>\n

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis as part of our ongoing research on men\u2019s and women\u2019s roles and outcomes in the U.S. labor market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This analysis uses 1980 decennial census data and the 2023 American Community Survey<\/a> (ACS). The ACS is the largest household survey in the United States, with a sample of more than 3 million addresses. Collected by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2001, it covers the topics previously included in the long form of the decennial census. The ACS estimates the size and characteristics of the nation\u2019s resident population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The microdata files used for this analysis were provided by the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series<\/a> (IPUMS) from the University of Minnesota. IPUMS standardizes variable names and coding across years as much as possible, making it easier to analyze the data over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managers and professionals are classified using the variable OCC2010<\/a>. Managers are codes 10 to 430 and professionals are codes 1000 to 3540. Each code is a detailed occupation (such as chief executives and legislators, or human resource managers), and these are often grouped into broader categories such as management occupations or professional and related occupations.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, 46% of all managers<\/strong> in the U.S. were women. This is up from 29% in 1980 but still slightly lower than the 49% of all workers who were women as of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managers are defined as workers in one of 21 detailed management occupations (refer to \u201cHow we did this\u201d for how these are classified in occupational data). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women were 58% of workers in professional and related occupations<\/strong> in 2023, up from 52% in 1980. The professional occupation group includes 109 detailed occupations ranging from computer and mathematical jobs, to social service occupations, to health care practitioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Managers and professionals tend to earn more than the typical U.S. worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, the median manager earned $86,000 annually, and workers in professional and related occupations earned a median $65,000. This compares with $48,000 for workers across all occupations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, nearly 56 million workers are managers or professionals, and they make up 38% of the workforce, up from 23% in 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women\u2019s presence in male- and female-dominated professional occupations<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Some professional occupations were made up mainly of women in 1980, but more were majority male. Women\u2019s presence across these occupations today is uneven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n