This Is the Most Popular Job Held by Women

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
This Is the Most Popular Job Held by Women

© Lordn / iStock via Getty Images

It is a sad truth that women have long faced gender discrimination in the workplace, being discouraged from pursuing some professions, finding the path to significant promotion blocked (the notorious “glass ceiling”) and being paid less than men for equal work. (Women are in the majority in 17 of the 25 lowest paying jobs in America.)

At the same time, women have undeniably made great inroads in some fields, and they have taken top posts in an increasing number of companies. Last year, in fact, saw the highest-ever percentage of women in CEO positions in America.

There are also fields in which women dominate. Education stands out, as does what are sometimes labeled the “caring professions” (like nursing and social work). In the most striking example, almost all preschool and kindergarten teachers are women.

To pick the most popular job that is held almost exclusively by women, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey. Miscellaneous occupations and jobs with fewer than 2,000 female workers were not considered.
[nativounit]
In fields where women remain underrepresented, there may be factors other than gender discrimination at play. Some areas of endeavor offer more flexibility and better work-life balance than others do, and some may offer more career satisfaction. Helping a child with a speech disorder may be more rewarding than digging a hole in the ground, whether you are a man or a woman.

Also bear in mind that some jobs held mostly by women, such as registered nurse, are highly skilled and well paid.

The most popular job held by women is preschool and kindergarten teachers. The median annual earnings for full-time workers is $37,492, and 99.8% of the workforce is female. That is, out of a total of 412,000 teachers, 411,000 are female.

Click here to see all the 28 most popular jobs held by women.
[wallst_email_signup]

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618