Graduate female employees hit a peak influencing changes at work

More female graduates in the labour force are bringing changes to the workplace. In order to attract these qualified women, companies are restructuring their compensation and benefits package.

This year is turning out as the first year that women make up the majority of the college-educated labor force in the United States, a development that is changing benefits packages offered by companies and possibly impacting family sizes in the future.

Female graduate workers were at the 45% mark at the turn of the century, and since 2013 this figure has been around the 49% mark. But this year is a watershed when women cross over into a slight majority.

Nicole Smith, chief economist at Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal saying this development overall is a positive one giving women more earning potential and control over their finances and destiny. They also value more flexible work arrangements and more generous leave packages.

Women-led households made up a little more than 26% of all households in 1980 citing the Census Bureau. By 2018, that number had grown to 30.5%, though broader social changes can be attributed to as well.

A closer analysis reveals that the wage gap at different education levels might be pushing women to earn advanced degrees with the trend likely to rise. Women have been in the majority to receive bachelor’s degrees and it has been that way for almost two decades.