The table compares the percentages of men and women employed in four occupational areas (catering, banking, manufacturing and education) in one country in 1986, 1996 and 2006.
Overall, the most striking features are the steady decline in manufacturing employment for both genders and the consistently high proportion of women working in education. While employment in banking rose for both sexes over the period, catering remained fairly stable.
Looking at men first, manufacturing was the largest sector in 1986 at 32% but fell markedly to 21% in 1996 and to 17% by 2006. By contrast, men’s employment in banking increased sharply from 11% in 1986 to 20% in 1996 and edged up slightly to 21% in 2006. Employment in catering for men rose from 16% to 22% between 1986 and 1996 and then remained at 22% in 2006. The proportion of men in education showed only a small rise from 13% to 15% across the twenty years.
For women, education was the dominant field throughout, increasing from 33% in 1986 to 35% in 1996 and reaching 38% in 2006. Women in manufacturing fell dramatically from 18% in 1986 to 12% in 1996 and then to just 6% in 2006. Catering for women stayed constant at around 26% in all three years. Finally, female employment in banking rose steadily from 12% to 16% and then to 19% by 2006.
In summary, the period saw a clear shift away from manufacturing toward service sectors such as banking (for men) and education (for women), with catering remaining largely unchanged.