Post by Dr. Marsha Firestone, contributing Women On Business writer

In March, I wrote about celebrating Women’s History Month.  The celebration has grown from International Women’s Day in the early 1900’s, to Women’s History Week in 1980, to the entire month of March when Congress voted in 1987.  Since 1992, every U.S. president has issued a proclamation declaring March to be Women’s History Month.  In my original post, I had discussed the advancements women have made in the workforce, but I would also like to share some facts and figures about the advancements women have made in other areas. 

• According to the US Census, as of October 1, 2008, there were 155 million females in the United States, outnumbering men by approximately four million.
• Women ages 25 to 29 who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2007 was 33%, exceeding the number of men in that age range (26%).  It is projected that 928,000 bachelor degrees will be given to women in the 2008-09 school year, as well as 391,000 master’s degrees.  This means women would earn 58% of the bachelor’s degrees and 60% of the master’s degrees awarded in this time. 
• As of the 2006-07 school year, 3 million girls were participating in high school athletic programs, compared to only 1.75 million girls in 1979-80.  
• Thirty-eight percent of women 16 or older work in management, professional and related occupations, compared with only 32% of men.  Yet even though women have made their strong presence in the workforce, we still earn only 77.5 cents for every $1 earned by men who work full time, year-round.*

Even though Women’s History Month has come and gone, think about the advancements women have made all year long, and continue to celebrate the strong women who have allowed us to get to this point.  Women are excelling and making their impact known, setting us up for further growth in the future!

*All Statistics provided by US Census To read more on these facts and figures, click here