Women are taking over the work world, or at least finally getting the representation they’ve lacked throughout history.
In his book, What Women Want, author Paco Underhill writes that “we live in a world that is owned by men, designed by men, and managed by men, and yet we expect women to be active participants in it.” Thankfully, this is changing.
Colleges and universities in the United States and Canada are now dominated by females, with 60 women for every 40 men, and in a range of disciplines including law, medicine and architecture – formerly male dominated careers, “a trend that began in the 1970’s” according to Underhill.
Outside of the work sphere women are the key buyers for the household and the acquisitioners of food for the family, this simple fact spurred growth of the farmers market and organic food movement.
“In 2005, a magical statistic stood out: for the first time in history, young women under the age of 30 in the largest American cities overtook men in earning power.” In fact, a New York City survey of wage earners between the ages of 21 and 30 found that women took home 17 per cent more pay than their male counterparts in equivalent positions.
Underhill points out that there are a number of driving factors that have resulted in this shift, some alarming as they point to flaws in the education system, namely learning disabilities such as autism and ADHD, which boys are far more likely to suffer from.
“Most little girls are comfortable sitting; little boys tend to squirm, fidget, and daydream.”
The key factor for the rise of womendom though is babies… or lack there of.
“Thanks to birth control, we have decoupled sex from procreation” which means the choice of if, when and with whom you have a child with.
A well researched and thoughtful look at why you should be thinking of women when you build, design, or create just about everything.
– Craig Lund is the President Elect of the American Marketing Association’s Toronto Chapter and can be reached at hello@craiglund.ca
