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The State of Women in the Workforce Today (As Illustrated By Our Favorite Working Women on TV)

It seems like every other day a new study is released making bold (and sometimes contradictory) claims about the state of women in the workforce today. We've tried to make sense of five of the most interesting recent studies, which come together to paint a complex portrait of being a working woman today. There's both good and bad news, but one thing's for sure: there's still a lot of work to be done.

Image: NBC

by Julia Black

The World of Working Women

It seems like every other day a new study is released making bold (and sometimes contradictory) claims about the state of women in the workforce today. We've tried to make sense of five of the most interesting recent studies, which come together to paint a complex portrait of being a working woman today. There's both good and bad news, but one thing's for sure: there's still a lot of work to be done.

Image: NBC

Women Are More Outspoken in the Office Than You Might Have Thought

Leaning. So. Hard. Elle Magazine and the Center For American Progress teamed up to conduct the "2013 Power Survey," a new report that shows that women are speaking up in meetings more than they're usually given credit for. 51 percent of women (compared to 58 percent of men) reported that they participated actively in meetings either "all the time" or at least "frequently."

Still the stereotype that women are "soft" seems to persist. In a little game of word association, the study found that men are much more likely than women to be described as "lazy," "aggressive," and "impatient," whereas women were favored with "compassionate," "polite," and "patient."

Image: HBO

Men are More Likely than Women to Be Granted Flexible Hours

A new sociological study found that, when all other factors are equal, a man is much more likely to be allowed a flexible work schedule from his boss than a woman.

Researchers suggest that employers were much more likely to presume that men sought an adjusted work schedule for the sake of career advancement, whereas they suspected that women would do so only for the sake of spending more time at home. Employers, the study suggests, assume that this is a woman's first step towards dropping out of the workforce altogether.

Image: HBO

Women Who 'Opted Out' Find Reasons to Jump Back In... If they Still Can

In the early 2000s, a wave of highly-educated, successful women were glorified for their choice to abandon the workplace for the sake of the home. New York Times reporter Judith Warner decided to check in on those same women a decade later. She found that many of them — whether driven by divorce, boredom, or a change in their economic circumstances following the financial crisis — were suddenly desperate to return to work. Many of them reported taking a massive pay cut, but still finding satisfaction in becoming self-sufficient once more.

Economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett told the New York Times that an astounding eighty-nine percent of "highly-qualified" women who had “off-ramped” from the workforce said they wanted to resume work, either part or full time.

Image: ABC

More Mothers Are Bringing Home the Bacon

A new study by the Pew Research Center found the 40 percent of all households with children are led by mothers as the primary breadwinners, up from 11 percent in 1960. The majority of these households are headed by single mothers, a fact made less surprising by the rising rate of single motherhood. Only about 37 percent are married women who make more than their husbands.

Image: HBO

The Most Common Job For Women Hasn't Changed Since 1950

Now this one's a bit of a bummer. According to the most recent census data available, secretary (or "administrative assistant") is still the most common role for women in the workplace. Does that at least count our gender's impressive track record with the Secretary of State seat?

Image: AMC

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