For a long time women have been mostly represented in helping professions like teaching and nursing, and not in other professions like engineering or construction. Could women only be aiming for jobs they are represented in?
About 94 percent of women make up the education field, and in elementary education that number is about 89 percent. However, at the high school level it’s about 60 percent, according to Pew Research Center. These numbers are visible even at South, with the majority of teachers being women. Sydney Hoffman ’26, is a student going into elementary education because she has been working with children for a while and wants to continue to work with them.
“When kids in high school are thinking of what career choice they want to go in, it definitely has to do with gender norms,” Hoffman said. “I feel like normally male students go into careers that are more salary potential to fulfill a provider role, where female students often have a desire for community helping careers.”
It’s not just Hoffman who says that women are more inclined to help people because they are deemed more nurturing and empathetic. Math teacher Katie Barbour thinks that women going into these roles have more to think about, like when they want to start a family and how long they can risk being in school for, which can influence women what profession they want to go into.
“I think you tend to have careers that you see people that look like you are in,” Barbour said. “This is why representation is so important.”
Hoffman and Barbour have expressed that they feel women go into education to help people, and that’s why they are in and going into the profession. Scott Peltier, a Spanish and marketing teacher, talks about how he likes teaching not just to help kids out but to spread knowledge about what he’s passionate about.
“There were a lot of males in the building when I first started and then once they have retired it has changed to many females,” Peltier said.
Over time the norms with women in jobs have fluctuated and continue to do so today. Women dominate helping professions and the media shows that, but what needs to happen is everyone getting represented in all workforces.
“Representation is important. If you see a female in a high power role that you didn’t think you were capable of, but then you see that they got there, you can think well if they got there, so can I,” Barbour said.
