The table compares the proportions of men and women employed in four sectors in 1986, 1996 and 2006.
Overall, manufacturing showed a clear downward trend for both genders, while education remained the dominant sector for women and increased steadily. Meanwhile, banking and catering experienced consistent growth, particularly among men.
Male employment in manufacturing underwent a gradual decline, falling from 32% in 1986 to 17% in 2006. A similar but more dramatic pattern was seen among women, whose figures dropped sharply from 18% to just 6%.
By contrast, banking figures increased regularly to reach 21% in 2006 for men, while women also experienced moderate growth, rising from 12% to 19%. Catering followed a relatively stable pattern for women, remaining unchanged at 26%, whereas men’s participation climbed steadily from 16% to 22%.
Education recorded the highest point across all categories for women, rising consistently from 33% to 38%. For men, however, it showed only a slight increase, settling at just over 15% by the end of the period.