Women Managers up 40%

Number of women in information technology jobs nearly doubles

By: Julie Smyth, National Post, Wednesday, February 12, 2003

'Women made significant progress in the job market over the past decade as the number of female managers increased 40% and women moved into more information-technology and finance jobs, according to a Statistics Canada report.

Women accounted for 46.7% of the labour force in 2001, up from 45% in 1991, and worked in high-skilled jobs traditionally dominated by men, including computers and accounting.

The number of women defining their position as senior management more than doubled over the decade from 23,800 to 50,900. A study released last year by consulting and research group Catalyst showed a similar trend, with 7.4% of director positions at the country's largest companies being held by women, up from 6.2% the previous year.

The number of women in information-technology jobs nearly doubled, from 61,000 in 1991 to 110,000 in 2001, according to the new census, and the number of women in senior business and financial jobs also increased by a similar percentage, from 46,000 in 1991 to 90,000 a decade later.

The most dramatic gains for women came in their advancement into management roles. In 1991, 408,000 held a range of management jobs, compared to 574,000 in 2001. Part of the trend has to do with a record number of women with children returning to the work force, Ms. Galarneau said.

While women are making major advances in their careers, they spend more time than their husbands looking after children and are still doing the majority of housework, statistics show. In 2001, nearly 15% of women devoted 30 hours or more per week to cleaning, compared to nearly 6% of men. In 2001, 6.5% of women spent 30 hours or more looking after their children, compared to 3.8% of men. The figures were unchanged from five years ago, when Statistics Canada began asking about unpaid, family-related work.

Occupational Skill Groups by Sex

Men
All Occupations 6.0
Managers 7.4
Women
All Occupations 13.9
Managers 40.5

Percentage growth 1991 – 2001


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