The New Breadwinners: Future of Women in the Workforce

One reason for dramatic changes in the future of the work is the changing role of women. The year 2020 will mark the 100 year anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote in the U.S. Women have come a long way since the 20th century and progress doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Almost 40 percent of working wives in the U.S. are now “breadwomen”—their household’s primary breadwinner, out-earning their husbands according to Pew data in 2013 which might mean it is even higher now.

What’s more, women dominate the fastest-growing professions. In fact, nine of the 10 job categories that are expected to grow the most through 2020 will be dominated by women — such as education and healthcare.

I was interviewed by CEO Michael Vidikan Future in Focus –a strategic foresight and consulting firm that offers custom and subscription-based research —  in tandem with Hope Katz-Gibbs of Inkandescent Radio about the future of women in the workforce. In this podcast, we cover:

• What precipitated the trend of women as the new breadwinner?
• How can businesses prepare for what’s on the horizon?
• What are some of the drivers behind this movement?
• What are some of the fastest growing professions that women are dominating in?
• As women continue to gain economic and political clout, what are some of the legal/HR policies that we could see — including maternity leave?
• How are women changing the organizational culture of many companies?
• What is different about their leadership styles, and the roles women are taking on?
• What’s unique about Millennial women in the workplace?
• And last, but not least, how is all of this change impacting men?

Listen to the radio interview with Dr. Hines — http://www.andyhinesight.com/media/the-new-breadwinners-future-of-women-in-the-workforce/

About Andy Hines

Dr. Andy Hines is Program Coordinator at the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight, bringing together the experience he earned as an organizational, consulting, and academic futurist. He is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm Hinesight.

Before that, he was Managing Director of Social Technologies/Innovaro, and served as an Adjunct Professor with the university since 2004. Hines enjoyed earlier careers as a consulting and organizational futurist. He was a partner with Coates & Jarratt, Inc., a think tank and consulting firm that specialized in the study of the future. He was also Futurist & Senior Ideation Leader at Dow Chemical with a mission of using futures tools and knowledge to turn ideas into new business opportunities. Before that, Hines established and ran the Global Trends Program for the Kellogg Company.

Hines is motivated by a professional hunger to make foresight practical and useful, and he believes that foresight can help deliver the insight that is so needed in today’s organizations and the world. His goal, he says, is to infect as many change agents as possible with this message. Thus, he has honed a skill set designed to make foresight more actionable in organizations.

In this pursuit, he has authored five books: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape (No Limits Publishing, 2011); Thinking About the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight (Social Technologies, 2007); 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society (Oak Hill, 1997); and Managing Your Future as an Association (ASAE, 1994) and has another in the hands of publishers: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education. He has also authored dozens of articles, speeches, and workshops, including the 2003 Emerald Literati Awards’ Outstanding Paper accolade for best article published in Foresight for “An Audit for Organizational Futurists” and the 2008 award for “Scenarios: The State of the Art.” He has appeared on several radio and television programs, PBS Houston, KRIV-26 News, and the CBS “Early Show.” He also co-founded and is former Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.