Proportions of women in high-skilled jobs in Germany rise due to higher education

As women were able to use their higher educational qualifications on the labor market, the proportion of women in jobs rose from 38 percent in 1976 to 45 percent in 2010 in the former West Germany region, said a study by the Institute for Labour Market and Employment Research (IAB) on Tuesday. According to the study, the higher the skill level of occupations, the greater the proportion of women has increased. In middle-skilled occupations, the proportion of women had increased by 7 percentage points, in highly skilled occupations such as dental technicians or interpreters by 9 percentage points, and in academic careers by 16 percentage points. In the low-skilled occupations, the proportion of women, however, decreased by almost 5 percentage points. Meanwhile, the majority of all professions was practiced either predominantly by women or by men, the study said. The study was based on data from employees subject to social insurance contributions from former West Germany region between 1976 and 2010. Around 60 percent of all the employed women worked in female occupations, with two thirds of men in men's jobs, according to the study. The IAB labor market researchers Corinna Kleinert and Ann-Christin Hausmann described jobs with a share of women up to 70 percent as female jobs, jobs with a men's share of at least 70 percent as male jobs, and other jobs as mixed occupations. More than 90 percent of doctors' assistants and teachers are women in Germany, however, technical and manufacturing activities, such as bricklayers, motor vehicle maintenance technicians and carpenters are typically male professions, said the study.