As we continue our trip down Memory Lane to celebrate our 175th anniversary, we’ve been thinking about how the types of jobs that we do has changed over the years, and more particularly about whether the people who do them have changed too?
Put another way, we’ve been thinking about jobs that used to be considered solely the domain of women – and whether or not that is still the case in the 21st century.
In the not so distant past it wasn’t uncommon for employers to direct applications for typists to the ‘Manager – Lady Staff’ or for advertisements for secretaries to use suggestive imagery about certain assets that women could use to land their dream job. We know – we’ve seen them in our Memo magazine from the 70s!
Just two generations ago, for many women there were only considered to be three main ‘career’ routes – typing, teaching or nursing – and the latter two are definitely now seen as acceptable for both sexes. But what about typing, secretarial work and PA roles – are these still considered to be jobs for the girls, or do you know many men who have carved out a career in administrative roles?
Maybe you are a man who works as a PA – have you faced any discrimination or criticism? Or maybe you have some insights into why this type of work is still considered firmly female.
It’s International Women’s Day this week (8th March) and this year’s theme is ‘Connecting girls, inspiring futures’, so it would be interesting to see where you think things are headed, as well as where they have been.
We’d love to hear your thoughts – whether you started in the world of work last week, last decade or a little longer ago – and if you have some stories of training with Pitman to share why not enter our Pitman Heroes competition and you could win £250 and £1000 worth of training.