Do Women "Belong" in Certain Careers and Not in Others? 

May 3, 2002

It isn’t job discrimination that places a particular gender in a dominant position in many occupations. For instance, take women in combat. While women are enormously talented, the U.S. military has never concealed the fact that women are only half as strong as men and they have much less aerobic power.
Therefore, it is only natural, and military women will agree, that women should not be placed in combat. Even enlisted women will not volunteer for combat duty.

For example, when the carrier Theodore Roosevelt was deployed a large number of military women did not complete their military tour because they were pregnant. Can we win a war on terrorism by sending soldiers into battle who are sick more often than men, and who have a worrisome rate of pregnancy? Can you picture U.S. military women in Afghanistan flying helicopters in and out of gunfire? I don’t think so.

Women are important contributors in the American workforce. Financial pressures have forced many to earn a second paycheck for their family. Day Care Centers help women stay on the job and husbands have become more involved in parenting. But when all is said and done, women, even if employed full time, spend more time than their husbands caring for children or elderly family members. Surveys indicate that women are often five or six times more likely to stay at home with a sick child. Women managers are quick to say that they carry a disproportionate burden of the work at home.

. Many women leave top management positions to raise their children and when the woman wants to return to work, she finds she is no longer skilled enough to compete.

Current data suggests that the glass ceiling, though not as discriminatory as it once was, is still in place. Why is this?

I believe it is because men and women were created differently. Men were created to be providers and protectors. Women were created to be nurturers, caregivers and teachers, if you will. Women operate more effectively within relationships. It is not that men cannot care for a household. They can. And it is not that women cannot have a career in technology. They can. But men and women do gravitate to professions where they are the most comfortable, can be most creative, and can juggle other responsibilities.

There are opportunities for full time, part time, or stay at home employment and whether or not job discrimination exists, the decision to work outside the home is important That decision determines your future and the future of your family.